The Stone Chest
by Shougo Amakusa
Summary: A War Among Ancient Dark Forces is about to start and the Titans will get in the middle unintentionally. A True Friend from their past will be back and new fighters will come to stop evil before Chaos takes over everything. BBxT/RobxStar/RaexOC
1. The Awakening

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 1**

"**The Awakening"**

The sun was hiding in the horizon and gradually the night was taking over the city; the creepy darkness brought by the night was only attacked by the neon lights spread all over the place. However, there were still streets where the light was out and the darkness could reign fearless. Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the noise of steps getting closer, the noise was getting louder and started to become fearful, and then, a shape appeared from nowhere. A white face, partially covered by black hair, was seeing an abandoned building almost in front of it. The man was tall and his body well built, his green eyes gave to his face a mystical aura making him unique; he was wearing a black pants and a white sweater, which helped to create a paranormal environment around him. He was standing as if he had been waiting for a signal to act until suddenly, he entered to the building.

Inside, the silence was even creepier than outside, if that was possible; despite of the absence of light, the mysterious guy could manage to find his way with making no sound, he walked slowly but firmly hoping to find what he was looking for. In that moment, the scaring calm of the place was interrupted by the sound of canticles. At the beginning the 'intruder' didn't understand any word spoken but when he reached a place near the source he realized that the language used was Latin which he understood very well so he started to listen carefully to every word and using his knowledge he could realize that the people singing were doing an awaking ritual. Then his greatest fear came to the surface, he could not believe what he heard next; those foolish rookies was trying to awake again a being that caused so many damage before it was sealed many years ago. There was no time to waste, the watcher role wasn't good enough and it was important to take action; in that moment he arrived to the center of the construction and could see five monk-like people with black suits who were performing the awakening ritual, but to his relief they weren't finish the ritual yet. The young man prepared himself to enter in action when he heard some words that stopped him.

"It's time for you meeting jail Maximus".

The young man quickly hid behind a wall and could see the face of the person who was in charge of the bad guys and could see his fear. It was obvious that the phrase said a minute ago shocked the leader of the gang who was making the ritual so the young man wanted to know who was responsible for that. A few moments later, five people stopped in front of the monk-like ones and the young man could see them well. One of them was a red haired woman whose clothes he would call sexy, she was hovering and her hands were cover by green energy bolts. "Definitely not human" thought the young man before turning his head to continue his analysis. The second he saw had half of his body covered by metal and he looked as the strongest of the team. To his right was a short and thin adolescent who had a green skin, near of them suspended in the middle air was another woman, her suit made the young man remember the monks of the XV century only that the color was blue instead of brown. Her face was covered and the only things the young man could see was her eyes; her aura reflected complete calm but it was not related with peace but with suppression and that was a very interesting fact of her. Finally, the young man focused himself in the guy who was in the center of the team that just came to the place, there was no doubt at all, that guy was their leader, his costume was the typical comic superhero clothes and the final touch was given by the mask he was wearing. Definitely, a strong power lied in those guys but maybe that power was not enough to stop the being the others were trying to awake. Nevertheless, the new crew arrived just in time to stop the evil plans of the monk-like gang and it wouldn't be necessary he to take part of it so he just dedicated to watch the show smiling because it was the first time in years that other people would be doing his job.

"Thanks a lot for your invitation, you're so kind, but I can not accept it" – Maximus answered with sarcasm.

"Then it'll have to be on the hard way" – Robin said – "Titans go!"

Four of the monk-like people who were performing the ritual suddenly disappeared, and Maximus flied quickly towards Robin who received him with a strong punch in the face that sent Maximus to the floor. However, the leader of the ritual performers did not surrender and began to throw thunderbolts against the Titans but they easily evade all of them. A few moments later, it could be seen that Maximus was not a challenge for Robin and the others. Starfire threw a star bolt against her enemy and the impact was clean because of a disregard of Maximus who ended almost knocked lying no the floor. Soon the other titans joined the girl to capture the leader of the ritual performers and a few moments later, they were standing beside him.

"Why you always choose the painful way?" – Beast Boy asked without taking his eyes off Maximus.

"Because they all are dreamers" – Robin answered.

"Once again I've been defeated my dear young friends, I know that I'm not a challenge for you but you can feel happy now because I'm going to introduce you a person that surely will be a real one" – Maximus said and then disappeared.

"It can't be! Not again!" – Robin yelled with anger.

"Oh man! This kicking his ass and then see him disappear thing is becoming annoying" – Cyborg added.

In that moment, a strong earthquake took over the entire place; in fact, the young man, who had left his hideaway to go after the monk-like people fearing the worst by the fact that only Maximus was fighting meanwhile the others just disappeared, saw his march stopped by the seism. Just a few moments later, the young man saw with horror that his worst fear had become true when the rest of the ritual performers appeared in front of the titans

"Prepare to meet your defeat!" – Maximus said and then disappeared again, but this time the entire monk-like people vanished into a strange vortex that appeared behind them.

A strong energy explosion hit the place and a shape of a normal person emerged from the vortex. He was wearing a black ninja suit and his face was cover by a ninja mask; at the beginning, he did some kind of stretching exercise as he was trying to pull away years of inactivity; After that, he took a look of the surroundings. Robin and the others quickly recovered from the explosion and without a doubt stood in front of the man who emerged from the vortex. Nevertheless, he ignored them all; obviously, he was being distracted by another presence.

"I don't know who you are but if Maximus set you free you must be with the bad guys" – Robin said taking his combat guard.

"Insolent! Shut your mouth out before me!" – The man said and Robin was sent against a wall by an invisible force.

Immediately, Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg stood in front of the man meanwhile Starfire went towards Robin in order to help him. Cyborg used his sonic cannon to attack and at the same time, Raven moved some pieces of furniture and threw them to the unknown man who easily evaded both attacks, then he moved very fast to reach Raven and hit her hard in her stomach with his left arm, the girl went unconscious and fell. Beast Boy, who had changed into a T-Rex to make his move, had to changed into a human being again to help Raven. From that moment on, only Cyborg remained to fight the mysterious man.

"You're nothing but ants. How did you dare to attack a superior being? Your punishment for that action will be death" – The man said with magnificence and a huge energy attack emerged from his hands towards the titans.

The entire building disappeared because of the attack and the unknown man remained stand in the street, his satisfaction was evident despite of his attack did not kill his enemies.

"So, At the end you decided to take part in the party my dear friend…well, I'll deal with them later and then I'll deal with you" – The man said and then he started to fly and disappeared without leaving a trace.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

In the rooftop of a nearby building, the five heroes appeared from nothing along with the young man who was hiding. The titans noticed the other man and quickly got on guard. Robin, despite of not being totally recover yet stood ahead, Cyborg and Starfire were backing him, to face the enemy. Beast Boy was still taking care of Raven who was regaining consciousness.

"Who are you? How did we got here?" – Robin asked distrustful.

"My name is Connor and I'm not your enemy. You're here because fortunately I could teleport you all before Zarth's attack destroyed you" – Connor answered seriously.

"So that freak is called Zarth?" – Cyborg asked.

"Yes, he's such a powerful being who was sealed so many years ago…I thought he'd never come back but I was wrong…and I hate to admit it but most of this is my fault" – Connor Replied with anger.

"What do you mean by saying that this is your fault?" – Raven asked accusatory while slowly was standing up, helped by Beast Boy.

"I was inside the building before your arrival, I could sense a powerful evil presence that was growing quickly so I decided to check it out. When I get to the place, I could see the beginning of a dark ritual and I confirmed with horror that they were trying to awake Zarth or rather set him free of his prison. In that moment, I decided to make my move and stop them but then you came and it was in that moment when I made the worst mistake ever …I decided to watch your battle and wait for your victory avoiding taking part of it …Nevertheless, I could see that only Maximus was fighting against you, and that the other four ritual makers just disappeared in order to finish their thing. When I went after them it was too late; the rest of the story you know it" – said Connor sighing.

"How do you know all that information about that man?" – said Robin continuing the interrogatory.

"I know just a little part of the story really. According with some books I red, some time ago existed a very powerful man known as Zarth. He wanted to enslave all the powerful beings in order to take over the Earth, but fortunately, he was defeated but since he cannot be destroyed, he was sealed. Until today I thought that all of it was just a dumb legend, but I'm afraid now that this is very real" – said Connor.

"Your story is such a fantastic one. How do we know that you are not an ally of that man? We know more about him than about you" – said Beast Boy while remembering a sad betrayal.

"Well, you don't and I really don't hope you to believe me, but I'll tell you something or rather I'll give you a little advice: If you want to live stay away from Zarth, he's beyond your comprehension" – said Connor while disappearing.

"He's really a strange guy" – said Robin looking the place where Connor was.

"All of this is strange" – said Starfire.

"He knows much more than he said" – said Raven.

"You're right Raven, but for now we have nothing to do but wait. We better return to the tower" – said Robin.

Raven, who had recovered herself a little after the short break caused by the conversation, changed into her soul-self and took everybody back to the tower.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

A man walked very slowly inside a cave, it was as he wanted to take all the time in world to arrive to his destiny; more than a year had passed since that incident and every day after that he went to that place …all the times he just stayed there talking to himself, many times he talked about what happen during the day and other times he just waited for …waited for a nonexistent miracle, waited for either a superior force or being bringing back her who taught him that he could be loved. An angel that taught him that someone around him was capable to give life for him. He always waited for someone bringing back Terra to him. Finally, Beast Boy arrived to the place where his beloved statue was. It still intact despite of time, the same gesture, the same position since that awful day it was like time being stopped in that place. Once again he saw the plaque he put on it and remember that he did that hoping for seeing Terra back because of some kind of magic power but nothing happened neither in that moment nor any moment since. After taking a look of the figure, he decided to sit beside it as he did everyday.

"Hi. Did you miss me? Well, the truth is that I still miss you, everyday since that incident I think of you and I still hope seeing you again …I have not told you this before but sometimes I think that you are still conscious and that you can hear what I say and in the first time, I feel happy thinking that we actually are having a conversation instead of this monologue of mine. Then, I realized with horror that the suffering of you feeling trapped and helpless inside that most be worse that death itself …why did you leave me this way? Why did you face that horrible destiny alone? Why? It was not fair what happened, I know that you made mistakes, many mistakes, but you did not deserve to end like this …Ahhhhhhhhh! I do not know what to do. At the beginning, we all spend a big part of the time everyday looking for a way to bring you back, but slowly the constant failures made us think that everything was lost, that your condition was no reversible and that you'll never be with us again …But I kept the promise I made of never forget you. I believe that while I keep that promise and while you are alive in my heart you'll always be here with us, with me" – Beast Boy had to stop talking because of the crying, he buried his face in his hands trying to hide his emotions from the statue.

"Well, let's talking about happier stuff, today I want to tell you about a weird fight we had, he, he, you're going to love it, there was magic powers and much more…"

Beast Boy continues his chat happier than before and without noticing that there was another person inside the cave looking at him carefully.

"Well, well, well, so this is the place where that fight happened …this is unbelievable. Who would say that the key of victory would be lying inside a stone chest?"

_Who is watching Beast Boy inside the cave? What that person means about the key of victory? What knows Connor exactly? The Titans will eat Pepperoni pizza tomorrow? Stay toned and do not miss next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** Well, although this is not my first fan fics it is the first non-anime fic that I write. Actually I love the series but there are so many things that I wanted to change and so I decided to make them happen. I hope that you enjoy reading my story and see you in next chapter.


	2. A Treasure is Gone

_**The Stone Chest**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**"A Treasure is Gone"**_

The woman walked slowly by the streets watching everything from under her hood; people passing by, cars, advertisements and every little thing related with the City it had always awaken her curiosity. Raven couldn't understand how all those citizens could keep their schedule as if nothing had happened; all the attacks suffered by the City since the Titans became an active crew barely modified the residents' life. And she wasn't against that because other behavior of the citizens would be a kind of victory for the bad guys; but what leaves her perplexed was the way for them to get used to it, they didn't even notice something was wrong at all. Definitely, compared with the citizens of Jump City Raven had a lot to learn in the art of hide emotions.

Of course, that day her visit wasn't related with the study of the citizens but with some kind of tricky taste of her. Nevertheless, the walking thing always helped Raven to forget all her responsibilities at least for some minutes. Robin and the others always asked her why she preferred to walk instead to fly there and back; but that way made her lose the best part of the whole thing not to mention that the flying part made her journey extremely short.

Raven kept walking until she arrived to the place she was looking for; an almost imperceptible smile took form on her lips while thinking what would say the others knowing that she went frequently to that place. The known aroma of the drink served in that place made her feel comfortable and remind her why she liked so much going in there.

"_C'est la vie_" was the name of the french café where the warrior had just arrived; the place was located in one of the streets near downtown. The decoration was not flashy but kept the characteristic informal environment required for that kind of places. Raven realized when arriving that the place was almost empty which was good considering that she hated multitudes. The young lady selected the most discreet table she could find and set willing to continue her reading of one of her favorites books, but before she could start her hobby, she saw something that greatly surprised her. Right in front of her and just a few tables away, was the guy who helped the titans a few days ago. The first intention of the girl was to ignore him, but then a more elaborated idea was taking form inside her mind; the first thing she did was to make sure she hadn't been seen by him and then, she decided to spy that mysterious guy. She didn't like something about him and she could not loose the opportunity she had to gain more information about that guy.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

In the Tower, the others titans was doing their daily chores; Robin was training while watching carefully the news looking for some clue about the mysterious guy they fought some days ago. Starfire was in the kitchen looking for some juice trying not to think about the ritual case. She still remembered all the things that happened that day after returning to the Tower and she didn't want to keep thinking about it.

Flash Back 

"That was really weird" - said Beast Boy while scratching his head.

"There's no doubt, that guy who appeared is very powerful" - added Robin.

"And the words spoken by Connor were not polite" - said Starfire.

"It's obvious that they does not want us in their business" - concluded Raven.

"The question is why?" - asked Cyborg.

"I got it. It must be a complot by radioactive guys from Venus who drained all the resources of their planet; and, now they are coming to take over the Earth to suck our brains out which are their main source of power" - said Beast Boy with vehemence while walking one side to the other.

"Someone shut him out please" - said Raven sighing really bored.

"Oh Come on! Think about it just a little and you'll see that everything will make sense" - insisted Beast Boy.

"Those guys are after something and I don't think it's good" - said Robing ignoring the last comment of his green partner.

"Is there something we can do?" - asked Starfire worried.

"Whatever their intentions are, I think that out there something was made clear. We don't stand a chance against them, at least not now" - said Raven while took off her hood.

"Many times before we were in a similar situation and in the end we managed to beat the bad guys" - answered Cyborg.

"You're right, but something tells me that this time it won't be as easy as always... Well guys, right now there's nothing we can do but wait so let's try to rest a while, we really need it" - concluded Robin.

"Bah! What we need to do is to investigate everything about those radioactive guys from Venus who..." - started to say Beast Boy.

"SHUT UP!" - yelled the rest of the team speaking together while morphing into several giant being who tried to crush Beast Boy.

Robin, Starfire, Raven and Cyborg went to their rooms while Beast Boy stayed in the living room; he was sat in the couch looking to nowhere.

End of Flash Back 

The red-haired girl quenched her thirst with some grape juice and then she went to the place where Robin was, since the arriving of Zarth, the leader of the team was dedicated almost exclusively to watch the news and training. For that reason, Starfire was beginning to fear about her friend's health.

"Friend Robin, don't you think it's time for you to take a nap?" - said Starfire when arriving beside the young guy with a delicious plate of food.

"It's not necessary, believe me. Thanks for worrying anyway" - answered Robin.

"You have been doing that routine of watching the news and sparing for several days by now, you've barely eaten. I'm starting to... I mean we're starting to get worried about you" - said the young lady blushing hard because what she almost said.

"I'm sorry if I've made you get worried about me, but you have nothing to be worried for. I just want to know if those guys make another movement, that's all" - answered the boy giving her a charming smile.

"At least eat something, it'll make you feel better" - insisted Starfire giving him the food.

"I'm not hungry, really" - replied Robin.

Starfire sighed with discouragement realizing that nothing she said would change his mind so she decided to leave the room taking the food with her. Although she knew that he would never admit it, anyone who sees Robin could find that he was suffering very slowly the consequences of that harmful routine of him, not to mention that he'd barely slept those days. It was clear that this new threat they just confronted had affected him badly and that hurt the Tameranian hard, she just could not stop worrying about Robin's health, as he wanted. However, while she was walking along the corridor, Starfire felt a hand over her shoulder that stopped her.

"I'm very sorry for making you get worried about me, that was not my intention at all" - said Robin shameful.

"I... is just... what you're doing is harming you" - answered Starfire blushing again.

"I know Star, I know, well I finished the sparing and I decided to stop the TV thing for a while... besides, all this effort has whetted my appetite... so, that food you just showed me is still available? - added Robin smiling.

"Thank you so much friend Robin! Of course it's still available!" - yelled Starfire while throwing the plate above them to hug Robin.

"You're welcome" - said Robin surprised while grabbing the plate before it fell to the floor.

"I'm so sorry friend Robin" - said Starfire blushing hard and very shameful while letting him go.

"You have nothing to be sorry" - said the Titans' leader before start eating.

"It will be better if we sit over there, eating while standing is not healthy friend Robin" - added Starfire pointing the table in the training room and smiling at him.

"Yeah, sure" - answered Robin with a drop in his head.

Both titans came back to the training room and Robin began to eat while Starfire watched him without knowing that their feelings were evolving quicker than they could understand.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

The quiet that was felt in almost all the Tower contrasted greatly with the deafening sound of the Home Theatre system united with the desperate cries of Beast Boy and Cyborg while playing a new game which was anything but similar to the classic Mega Monkeys 4. This time, the hero of the game was in some kind of devilish Hospital trying to evade several possessed nurses, who wanted to kill him, while looking for a code to open a strange box.

"Come on you idiot! Beat her! If you have that plank in your hands is for beating those monsters! What do you think it was? A giant toothpick!" - yelled a desperate Cyborg while watching Beast Boy letting the nurses hit him several times.

"Take this you Raven's apprentices!" - said Beast Boy while seeing that one shot of the shotgun killed all the attacking nurses.

"Wow! I see that sometimes the few neurons that you have decide to work" - said a smiling Cyborg.

"The great Beast Boy is not going to be defeated by a group of foolish nurses".

Right in that moment, another nurse appeared behind the hero and killed him, which caused a big "Game Over" label took over the screen.

"I think those neurons work for small periods of time" - said Cyborg sighing - "At least you saved the game, didn't you?"

"Eh... well... you see..."

"Beast Boy, you're not trying to tell me that you were so moron to forget saving the game knowing that we have 10 hours playing it by now, are you?"

"He, he, he, he, you know what? I forgot that I must do this important thing in my room" - said Beast Boy while starting to run.

"Freeze! Hang on you stupid piece of...! 10 hours of continuos game lost! 10 hours! I'm going to blast you into pieces!" - yelled Cyborg while starting to run after his green partner.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Raven tried hard to keep the speed of her target, always being careful to be invisible to him; the young titan had several hours in her "mission" and until that moment she hadn't discovered anything. After the café, Connor decided to take a walk across the park and after that he went to the Zoo and finally he entered to a big mall. Inside it, the young guy only saw the shopwindows as he was looking for something but the strange thing was that every time a salesman or a saleslady get close to him to ask what he wanted, Connor rejected the help and went to another shop. Raven was starting to get tired with all that, but when she decided to come back to the tower, the young guy left the mall walking towards one of the nearby streets. The warrior thought that now it could be her chance to gain some useful info about the mage so she started to follow him again, this time, Connor was walking by desert streets. Finally, Connor turned around a corner towards a dead end, and she was sure that now she was up to find something good. Nevertheless, and for her surprise, when she turned around that corner she didn't see anybody. Everything in that dead end was old newspapers and a big trash container. The warrior could feel how anger and frustration started to take over her body, but she quickly regain control of herself and decided that the only thing left to do was coming back to the tower without telling anything about her huge failure to the others. Right in that instant, Raven saw an envelope just in the middle of the street. At the beginning she thought that it was nothing but trash, but then she realized that it was really clean and looked new so she decided to take it, and for her amazement the envelope was labeled "For my dear spy". The young titan quickly started to read the letter and a mixture of feelings took over her body.

_I really hope that you have enjoyed our little walk; I know it could have been better, but I had not the proper time to make a proper schedule so I had to improvise. Besides, you must agree with me that this was a very strange date so I can be forgiven if I did not make you feel great. Unfortunately, duty calls and I must leave now, but I assure you that I enjoyed a lot this walk... together? I sincerely hope that we have another date, but an old fashioned one. I really don't understand these modern manners._

_Greetings,_

_Connor._

Raven red the letter several times without believing what her eyes was watching; the young titan wanted to be the hunter and ended being the prey; in fact, she was swindled by him. For a while, she just shook her head while laughing; definitely, Connor was not a stupid guy and the woman started to ask herself since when he realized her trap. Besides, what he wrote was funny in her thoughts; it made more comfortable the ridiculous scene she just did. Finally, Raven hid the letter in her costume and started her way back to the tower.

"_C'est la vie_" – said Raven reminding the name of the place where everything began while starting to fly back home.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Beast Boy again walked slowly inside the cave that had been witness of his tragedy; every day passed he felt that the chances of see her again, in flesh and blood, faded helpless. His partners gave up a long time ago and now they accepted the idea of no seeing her anymore, but Beast Boy resisted that way of thinking. He kept his faith intact and was sure that there's still a way to bring her back, but without the help of the others everything became more complicated. Aqualad and BumbleBee helped him for a while, but finally, they reached the same conclusion and abandoned the research; and, the poor titan had not anybody else to call. He kept cursing his luck and regretted seeing his friend inside that stone dress, but the worst thing was that he had done nothing to help her, so close and so far he thought. After a few minutes, he arrived to his destination, but nothing in the world could prepare him for what he found. The entire place was intact but yet something was different and that detail, just a trifle for almost anybody, represented life for Beast Boy: _The Statue of Terra was gone_.

Beast Boy searched everywhere; he morphed into almost all the known animals from a T-Rex, to tear down some walls, to an ant, in order to search through the scratches. He saw the remaining walls, the floor and the roof, but in the end, he did not find a clue of what had happened. Slowly a dark feeling started to take over his body and suddenly he understood how Raven felt in her battle against Terra; the young guy felt how anger moved itself inside his body while tightening his fists so hard that blood started to come out of them. If it had been other thing he would have taken it easy, even disdainfully; but if something sacred ever existed to Beast Boy it was that statue; everybody has a limit and Beast Boy one has reached a long time ago.

"Whoever who did this will pay, I'll make sure of that" - said Beast Boy trying not to explode while walking towards the tower to tell the others.

_What happened with the Statue of Terra? Will Connor and Raven have another "date"? ¿Will Beast Boy and Cyborg be able to recover the 10 hours lost? Stay Tuned and don't miss next episode._

**Author's Notes: **Wow, this chapter is a little bit longer than the previous one, but I did not want to edit the scenes. I know the story is a little slow right now, but there're things that must be said in detail in order to understand what's going to happen next. By the way, well, poor Robin, he's being consumed by the Zarth thing and I don't blame him, after what happened even me would be alert even if I were the titan's leader; let's hope Starfire keeps taking care of him with the same attitude. Man, what happened with the videogame was awful, if somebody do the same to me, the less thing I'd do would be not invite him ever again to my house, but considering it was Beast Boy, well we can understand.

Anyway, I don't want to make a long note so one more thing: "C'est la vie" is a French phrase that means, "This is how life is". See you in chapter 3.


	3. Some Explanations

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 3**

"**Some Explanations"**

Connor walked cautiously across one of the most concurred streets of Jump City, his face looked quite and confident. However, many things were flying in his mind. The return of Zarth couldn't be taken as a minor problem and if what Connor knew was right, that event only was the prelude for a worse one. And, all those things made extremely necessary to take action at once. But, for doing that it was necessary to have some help because a major investigation should be done; fortunately, he knew who was perfect for the job. Finally, after a long walk, the young man arrived to a slipshod building in downtown; at first sight it looked like a mid class residence due to its multiple signs of deterioration. But for those people who visited the place frequently that appearance was only a facade made to keep out curious people. Connor entered to the place as usual and some time later he was in a waiting room surrounded by paintings and furniture. The waiting room of the Order of the Darkness' headquarters was welcoming; a fireplace kept a comfortable temperature and it was almost the only source of light present. A beautiful carpet painted with gothic symbols covered the floor, and, in front of him was an elegant Louis XV style desk, which combined perfectly with the whole contour. The young man didn't waste time beholding the place and went quickly upstairs looking for the only person who could help him in that time.

Something that made the place unique was the poor illumination seen in the entire building; candles and fireplaces illuminated almost all the rooms, only one or two rooms had the privilege of having light bulbs. Of course, for an Order whose members had supernatural powers the problems with lighting was not a nuisance at all, on the contrary, that characteristic gave the place a mysterious atmosphere pleasing everybody inside. A few moments later, Connor stopped in front of a door and then he knocked it carefully.

"Come in, it's open" – said a voice inside.

The young man entered and realized that the person he was looking for was there. Jessy was a beautiful woman who had the same age of Connor; her long black hair, dressed in a ponytail style, contrasted with the whiteness of her skin. Besides, those sapphires looking eyes she had and her top model like nose completed a very attractive picture to almost everybody around her. Not to mention her sculptural body, she was the fitness in person and her muscles were pretty defined. All of that gave her a strong but pretty appearance, specially her legs. Although, to Connor none of those sensual shapes in her existed, they both were friends since childhood and she was like a little sister to him and because of that he couldn't waste his time looking the what was obvious. Besides, in that moment there were more important thins to be worried about and that kind of distractions were a luxury he couldn't have.

"Well, well, you're surrounded by books… as usual" – said Connor smiling at her.

"Indeed, to many people the most important thing is practicing, but for me what counts is knowledge; and, to obtain that it's necessary to read… a lot" – answered Jessy while crossing arms.

"Considering that, the favor I'm about to ask you is going to make you very happy" – added Connor.

"Every time you say that I end with several weeks of no sleeping while reading papyrus and manuscripts" – sentenced Jessy while pretending boredom.

"As I can remember, you just said that you loved to read. Well, I think the only guy in here who actually helps you with that it's me. The others only ask you for vague references and trivial stuff; they are not a challenge for you" – said Connor trying to convince his friend.

"It is not necessary for you to use those bad tricks to convince me, you know that I'll help you… eventually; after all, you're the only one in here who can see me without lust" – answered Jessy.

"Well, actually I have a very sophisticated taste my dear friend, and of course, you are anything but a pair to me" – added Connor laughing.

"You are an idiot, you know".

"Me? You're the one who still came to this place knowing that everybody sees you as 'fresh meat'".

"In case you don't know, in this place I can find many priceless papers and publications which otherwise I couldn't even see. In the end, all the peeping thing is just a little price I have to pay in order to gain access to that information; after all, all they can do is undress me with their eyes".

"You'll never change… well, it has been a grateful chat, but I don't have much time; considering what has happened I suspect that things are going to become very tough so I need to be prepared" – confessed Connor changing his face into a very dark one.

"Now you're scaring me. What the hell is going on?"

"Don't you know anything?"

"Well, I know something really important is happening because people in here are being very active lately, especially the elder ones. But, as you said, for them I'm only 'fresh meat' and my powers are not even mentioned among us, so nobody has considered important to tell me what is going on" – said Jessy sighing sadly.

"But you can go to the meetings" – said Connor.

"And I've done it, but the elders only advice us to be more prepared and warned than ever, nothing else" – answered Jessy.

"I see; well, if it makes you feel better, the elders haven't have me in count considering that it was me who sew the apparition" – indicated Connor.

"The Apparition? What do you mean?" – asked Jessy fearing the worst.

"Zarth has been released" – answered Connor very calmly and slowly.

Jessy got shocked when hearing the last words of her friend, she knew very well Zarth's legend and understood perfectly the meaning of his return; and knowing that he was walking freely in the city was very frightening. Once the girl got a little air, Connor explained her in detail all what happened since the ritual, including the Titans part; the woman analyzed every words of her friend and she waited a while before speaking again.

"I guess the favor you just asked me is related to Zarth" – said Jessy.

"I'm afraid so my dear friend; I think his primary objective is destroying our Order. However, the elders only call me to explain what happened so I think they are not considering me to face the threat… But they never told me that I was forbidden to investigate Zarth on my own; and here is when you appear on the set. I need to know everything related with Zarth" – said Connor.

"Everybody in the Order knows Zarth's legend"

"The only information we have is that famous legend, beside of it, nobody knows much about him, which I consider very strange if you ask me. And considering that he's back and that we probably are the first targets in his list, I don't think it is crazy wishing to know what is written in our files about him" – indicated Connor.

"I understand what you said and I agree with you so I'm going to help you out, but I'll need some time; there are a lot of documents which contain information about him, although most of them refers to the legend. Nevertheless, there are certain scrolls which must have what you're looking for, in any case I'll need to make an exhaustive investigation"

"That's why I came to you, if there's anything capable to find that information, is you. Well, now I got to go, there are other things I have to do as soon as possible" – said Connor while leaving the room.

"What are you planning my dear Connor Blackwood? I'm sure that behind that story you just said you're hiding your real intentions… Well, right now I'll dedicate to search the information you want. But you'll need to give me a huge and detailed explanation if you really want to see the results of my investigation" – said Jessy to herself while standing up from her chair to walk towards a huge library located behind her.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Two people dressed with black suits were standing in front of one of the most important museums of Jump City. The silence of the night hid and helped them in their perverse mission. So they walked stealthily towards one of the lateral walls in order to work without anything noticing them. One of them put his hand over the wall and almost immediately a door appeared allowing the two thieves to enter inside.

"The master does not want any mistake to be done so let's finish this as soon as possible"

"Right!"

In that moment, one of the guards came to the place while doing his routine walking and when he realized what was happening he tried to stop them. However, suddenly one of the intruders raised his arm and from it emerged a brilliant beam of light, which went towards the guard passing through his head and instantly killing him. After receiving the attack, the dead body of the guard fell to the floor.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Beast Boy called everybody in the Tower to a meeting in the playroom; at the beginning, the titans thought it was another of his senseless jokes, but slowly they realized that something was just wrong with their partner who looked extremely perturbed, as if something really bad had happened. In fact, they all were thinking that indeed something really bad had happened just for seeing the face of the green one.

"Well Beast Boy, now you have us together as you wanted, can we know what is going on?" – asked Robin taking his chance.

"Actually I don't know how to explain this, I don't even now for sure exactly what happened" – answered Beast Boy making a big effort to stay calm.

"What do you mean with that?" – asked Raven trying to hide, behind her monotone voice, her truly desire to know what was about to say her green friend.

"I, well, I was making a short ride and suddenly I ended in the place where… where Terra sacrificed herself for us and well… when I get to the place her… well the statue was…" – The titan suddenly stopped talking while looking the floor.

"What happened then?" – asked Cyborg suspecting something was not right with the second apprentice of Slade.

"It wasn't there" – said Beast Boy almost in a whisper.

"What did you just say?" – asked Starfire after a huge gasp.

"The statue is gone; and whatever it happened, it should have been today. Yesterday the statue was right on its place" – answered a stunned Beast Boy.

"It can't be, this is very strange. Who could want to rob Terra's statue?" – asked Robin more to himself that to the others.

"It could have been Slade you know. After all, she left him in the end and maybe he's looking for revenge" – said Cyborg.

"More than a year has passed since then and after Slade's apparition when we fought Trigon, he hasn't shown any intentions to steal the statue… why now? why did he make the long waiting? If he really wanted a revenge I think it'd be already done" – said Raven.

"I agree. I don't think Slade had anything to do with this" – completed Robin.

"And what are we going to do?" – asked Starfire still shocked.

"Well, right now we have to go to the cave, maybe we can find some clues about what really happened" – answered the boy wonder.

Beast boy was about to tell the others that their effort would be useless because he already had checked every little place inside the cave without finding anything. However, the Tower's alarm started to beep way before he could even tried to open his mouth.

"Oh man! Why the bad guys always manage to be inopportune?" – asked Cyborg with anger.

"What is going to happen with Terra?" – asked Beast Boy.

"Right now, we have to go attending the call, later on we'll be able to focus on Terra" – cleared Robin while noticing the displeasure of his green friend – "Don't worry Beast Boy, I assure you we're going to bring Terra back, you have my word" – added the boy wonder while putting his right hand over Garfield's shoulder.

"Thanks" – replied Beast Boy while preparing himself to follow the others.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Inside the museum, both thieves were ready to leave the place taking with them several pieces of Aztec art when they find their way obstructed by five people.

"I think you're too late for an exhibition" – said Robin.

"We really wish to stay a while for the chatting but right now we're in a hurry, so if you excuse us" – said one of the intruders while running towards the leader of the titans.

Robin blocked easily the attacks of his opponent who was not an expert on martial arts, but suddenly a big energy wave sent the titan many feet away. Near them, the other intruder extended his arm towards Cyborg and used the same technique that killed the guard some minutes earlier. However, this time, Raven managed to create a force shield around her metallic friend and it blocked the deadly attack. The magician wanted to repeat his killing act, this time using Beast Boy as a target, but Starfire, using a starbolt, could hit the intruder on time. After the red-haired girl's attack, the green titan morphed into a Bull and charged against the mage sending him against a wall. A few feet away, the other magician flew towards Robin in order to kill him taking advantage of the fact that the boy wonder was still stunned, but the intruder was intercepted by a shot of Cyborg's sonic cannon. Quickly, both thieves managed to regroup and a tense calm took over the place, this break was interrupted when one of the intruders created a huge energy sphere and sent it towards the titans.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" – yelled Raven while using one of her most powerful attacks in order to block the energy sphere.

Starfire used her optical starbolt technique to help her friend to block the attack; a few seconds later, the three forms of energy made contact and it was not clear which one was winning the fight. Because of that, the other intruder tried to use his deadly beam against Raven, taking advantage of her distraction. But way before he finished to hear his thoughts, a huge tiger went over him, biting him with ferocity. However, the mysterious guy got rid of the animal and a brilliant energy beam was thrown towards Beast Boy who avoided easily by morphing into a mouse. Just after that, Robin returned to the action by throwing several shurikens to the guy who used the killing attack; the mage could evade the metallic pieces but suddenly got caught by Cyborg who hit him hard right in the stomach, leaving him almost unconscious. Not very far away from there, Raven and Starfire made one last effort and their attack swept the other magician towards one of the cabinets from the room. The titans regrouped themselves and then they decided to get closer to the thieves to apprehend them, but in that moment, a blinding light emerged and filled the entire place, making Robin and the other to stop in order to protect their eyes. Once the light extinguished itself, the titans could realize with frustration that the intruders they were fighting, just a few seconds ago, had disappeared leaving all the stolen pieces of art.

"This can't be happening!" – yelled Cyborg very upset.

"Something here is just not right, that last attack didn't come from the intruder we were fighting" – indicated Raven.

"Somebody should had helped them, but who? And why he didn't try anything against us?" – asked Robin to himself.

"More question and less answers. I think I'm starting to miss Brother Blood, Jinx and the others you know; at least with them we always knew what to do. But, lately a lot of strange things are happening, too many if you ask me" – said Cyborg.

"Guys I'm sorry for the interruption but you must remember that Terra is still lost" – said Beast Boy while starting to leave the museum.

The other titans shut up, comprehending how their friend was feeling, and decided to make their way to the cave; anyway, there was nothing they could do but waiting for further attacks and until then it was obvious that Terra was the priority number one for the team. Nevertheless, Raven couldn't stop thinking about what just happened; she almost could swear that she had felt that aura before, but she was not completely sure about when and where. Although, considering that the intruders were wizards, a name came immediately to his mind like a flash, but Starfire interrupted her reasoning.

"Aren't you coming?" – asked the Tameranian.

"Eh… yeah… sure, please wait for me you guys" – answered Raven without stop thinking about a young mage and a french café.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Two very confused wizards appeared several streets away from the place where they were fighting the titans; it was evident that they didn't know how they managed to get there, although that didn't matter at that time. The important thing was that they could escape in the last minute and their mission was accomplished; the master would be very proud of them and maybe He was the responsible of their spectacular escape.

"We must return as soon as we can, the titans must be close"

"I'm going right after you"

What the thieves didn't know was the fact that they were being closely watched for the person who actually helped them escape back at the museum. A black-haired guy, with emeralds looking eyes and a white skin that contrasted his other features, was following the mages very stealthily. Connor really didn't enjoy helping those criminals, but it was necessary; both wizards were members of the Order of Chaos, which remained inactive for several years by now, and its sudden appearing coincided with Zarth's return. So it was worthy to investigate if there was some kind of relation between both events; after all, was Zarth himself who created that Order. The young warrior continued his plan hoping to find something big, after all, he didn't remember the last time his intuition was wrong.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Inside a cave, a crowd were standing around a statue well known by the titans, everybody in the place were grabbing torches and they were singing some canticles using Latin language while waiting something extraordinary to happen. In that moment, two people came from between the crowd gathered in there and stood beside the girl who was the sixth titan in order to start a speech.

"The time for us to accomplish our goal has come, we have waited for so many years and right now I can assure you with pleasure that our reward is near" – said one of the men who obviously was some kind of leader considering the fact that the others were hearing while making reverences.

"It is time to start our victory" – added the other while starting some kind of ritual that involved Terra who remained limp without knowing that her future was about to change in an extraordinary way.

_What do those persons want with Terra? What is going to find Connor in his quest? Will the titans be able to find their friend on time? Will Jessy be able to find the information for Connor? Don't miss next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** There is no much to say; now we know more things about Connor (at last, he, he) and finally we had some action. Don't worry; I'm not planning to include several original characters, so if anybody is thinking that just forget it. Well thanks for reading, please review and see you in next issue.


	4. The Escape

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 4**

"**The Escape"**

Two members of the Order of Chaos walked slowly due to the several hits received back in the battle against the Titans, but fortunately, they were near to their destination. A dark cave was in front of them and, after a short pause for breathing; they decided to enter very cautiously in order to remain unnoticed; the thing they didn't know was that a warrior from the opposite Order was following them very closely.

Afterwards, everybody was inside and they could see a big group of people surrounding a statue; Connor revised the cave looking for a place where he could see the scene remaining unnoticed and the two robbers joined the others to get in front of the leaders. A short while later, the Order of the Darkness young member found a distant overhang where he could see everything clearly although he could barely hear anything; nevertheless, given the situation he could not expect more than he had. After a moment, the spy put his chest on the floor taking care for avoiding to be seen and he dedicated to look the little convention which was being developed beneath him. The two guys, followed by Connor, arrived to the center of the meeting where the statue was located and quickly they talked with the leaders of the cult.

"Master, we are sorry for the delay, but we had an encounter with the titans" – said the mage of the deadly attack.

"Your words tell me that the objective you had was reached, but, anyhow soon we will know it for sure" – replied one of the leaders.

In that moment, everybody, including Connor, turned their heads to the entrance, while listening the particular sound of footsteps getting closer; some instants later, another man dressed like the others appeared and, after walking to the masters, he got on his knee offering a chest to one of them.

"Mission accomplished" – said the man without rising his head.

"You have done well" – said the other leader after examining the content of the box.

"Everything is happening according to the plan; the titans were easily eluded by a little distraction party and they never realized that the true strike was taking place far away" – added the other boss while laughing.

"Only to guests are missed, after their arrival we can start the ceremony" – said other member after getting closer to the main group.

Almost immediately after those words, two persons appeared beside the leaders; the guys dressed robes that looked very similar of the other ones, but the drawn emblem was different. Connor, from his hideout, had to make a big effort to avoid a gasp whose sound would lead the others towards him; but what he was seen was unbelievable; the most powerful two master of his own order had just appeared next to the leaders of that meeting without making any sign to begin a fight; and that only meant one thing; _betrayal_.

"I can see that you finally understand that your interests and ours have a lot in common" – said one of the leaders to the newcomers.

"This world is about to live a change and we can not just step aside of it, my dear John" – replied one of the newcomers.

"Indeed Joseph, now with Zarth free again many things will stop being what they were; and, better times will come to all of us" – said John politely – "Alright, we already have all the necessary stuff and all the necessary people to begin the ceremony so it would be better stop wasting time, the Supreme Master is awaiting and his patience is not large"

The four Masters and two apprentices put some objects around Terra's statue while the other disciples raised flames of different colors; shortly, a mixture of red, blue, brown and gray lights illuminated the cave. Connor was thankful of being backwards the meeting otherwise he would have been seen easily. In that moment, all the disciples and their leaders were focusing towards the stone figure and that fact showed that it had great importance in the ritual the others were just performing.

Connor had an internal battle trying to find a reasonable explanation to what he was seeing; it was pretty obvious that some kind of alliance had been established between mortal enemies, an alliance that for some reason remained unknown for the other members of the Order of Darkness; in fact, the idea of a big double crossing to smash the Order of Chaos seemed to have sense, but if you analyze the facts a little bit closer you ended discarding the idea for being very improbable.

Some instants later, the Masters began to recite an enchantment and once again they used the Latin as the main language; the disciples repeated some of the phrases said by the leaders, while two apprentices raised the chests that were lying in front of the statue in order to offer them to it as a tribute. Several minutes passed and a little earthquake began to take control of the entire place; nevertheless, none of the people present dared to move, it was like everybody expected something like that to happen; even Connor, who had no idea of the purpose of the ritual, seemed to unnoticed the natural threat. But, what happened afterwards really surprised him; the statue began to shine, it was like light trying to escaping from the inside, at the beginning, it was a tenuous light and then, the statue started letting to escape many beams. The young warrior looked the whole scene remaining confused and it was in that moment when he noticed the earthquake, which was rising at the same time that the light coming from inside the statue got stronger. Connor started to doubt if the cave would stand over that huge shaking; however, he had to stop thinking to cover his eyes. The light in that moment was so intense that it literally blinded everybody for a few seconds. Fortunately, and almost immediately, the light started to extinguish itself and the earthquake got weaker; Connor wait for a short while before open his eyes but what he saw afterwards made him think that the entire phenomena had clouded his mind because in the very place where the statue was located a blonde girl was standing looking very dizzy.

The disciples started to scream of jubilee due to the sudden apparition and the four Masters smiled with pleasure seeing his mission accomplished successfully.

"Brothers, the prophecy start to fulfill itself; at last we have in our bare hands the only barrier which dares to stand in front of our plans! And once she is destroyed nothing will be able to stop a new reign being arisen on Earth!" – screamed John towards the crowd.

A louder scream filled the entire place while a focused Connor began to understand what was happening; it was obvious that no matter the intentions of the Masters the girl had a very important role to play; and, considering what he just saw and the words John just said, the outcome would not be something good; then, the young warrior decided to do the most sense thing he managed to think in that moment: _to kidnap the girl_. He only needed to find the right moment to do it; an open fight against the four masters was a suicide for sure so it was necessary to have a lot of patient to conduct the plan he had not yet thought. A few moments later another ritual began, this time two of the masters were grabbing the disoriented girl, who was too confused to react, while the other two red a book which seemed to be very antique; the rest of the people were lying on their knees in a reverence posture. Up to that instant it was obvious for the member of the Order of Darkness that the masters had released the girl with the only purpose of destroying her and for that reason it was vital the stop the ritual, which Connor knew very well, before it reached its end. The young warrior waited until the ritual was getting closer to its end before put on practice the plan he managed to build minutes ago; and, when the right moment came, he quickly raised his hands and shot a strong beam of energy towards the roof, that attack shook the whole place and started a cave-in.

All the disciples started to run for their life since they were not expecting another earthquake; this chaos was used by Blackwood to throw another beam, stronger than the previous one, against the four masters and since they were using all their mind powers and energy to perform the ritual, they could not avoid being hit by the attack. Connor could observe how the four sorcerers were expelled away from the girl and immediately he jumped from the overhang with the mere intention of rescuing her, but then, three disciples who realized his trick stood in front of him.

One of the guys threw an energy beam towards Connor who stretched his left arm in order to create a light shield which stopped the attack; immediately the other two enemies charged against the member of the Order of Darkness who threw the shield which he just created against one of the aggressors in order to attack the other with an energy beam thrown from his right arm; both attackers ended unconscious over the floor and the third one created several light darts which he threw quickly against Connor. The young mage, after observing that technique, disappear only to appear behind the attacker who jumped aside in order to stay out of Connor's attack range.

"I would really want to stay a little longer, but duty calls" – said Connor while smiling and then he shot himself at maximum speed towards the blonde girl.

"If you want to reach her it will be over my dead body" – said the other while appearing between Connor and the girl.

"If you really want to die I will make you happy" – replied Blackwood changing his facial expression into a darker one.

Connor amassed a certain amount of energy in his right hand and a white beam emerged towards his opponent who jumped to evade it, but the attacker did not even managed to reach the maximum elevation when he saw the member of the Order of Darkness before him.

"Surprised?" – said Connor while joining his hands in order to throw a huge energy attack towards the unready rival who fell to the floor motionless after receiving the whole technique.

The young warrior took a deep breath and then he started to run at maximum speed towards the blonde girl who reacted with a lot of fear when she saw him and that reaction caused an intensity rising in the earthquake; Connor knew he was running out of time; the Masters will not last any longer before recovering and the cave was about to collapse so the only reasonable choice was going out from that place and the sooner the better. The guy grabbed the girl, but she far from cooperating started to struggle to free herself. Blackwood, after seeing her reaction, used his left arm to grab her while putting his right hand over her face, and the girl could see with horror how the guy's eyes became completely dark while a shining light started to emerge from his hand. Seconds afterwards, an unconscious Terra was grabbed by Connor just before both disappearing leaving no trace behind.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Robin and the others were revising, in a detailed way, the cave where Terra had been resting for more than a year; they did not wanted to leave a single nook without checking it trying to find any clue about either what or who had kidnapped their partner. Starfire and Raven searched the roof carefully while Cyborg and the boy wonder did the same in the floor; the walls were checked by Beast Boy who took the shape of either a spider or a snake depending on the situation with the purpose of doing an extremely dedicated search. The Titans spent many hours doing the investigation, but in the end they did not find even one single clue which helped them to find the statue.

"I just can't believe there's no trace of the kidnappers" – said Starfire looking angry.

"It is like they just came out from nowhere" – added Cyborg.

"Or like they appeared in here and then disappeared" – indicated Raven with clear signs of having a possible name in mind.

"Do you think this guy, Connor, is the responsible of all this? – asked Robin understanding behind the lines.

"His actions have been very suspicious from the beginning and it's clear that he hadn't told us all he knows; besides, his ability of teleporting fix perfectly in this _modus operandi_" – answered Raven without turning a hair and with her typical monotone voice.

"Then we have to find that guy as soon as possible!" – screamed Beast Boy while going towards the exit of the cave.

"Where do you think you're going?" – Asked Cyborg while grabbing his buddy by his green hand – "By any chance do you have the introduction card of that Connor where is typed his telephone number and his address?"

"Staying in here is not going to bring Terra back" – replied Beast Boy while getting free of his partner grabbing.

"Acting without thinking properly won't bring her back either; keep in that little mind of yours that all of this reasoning part have not been confirmed yet… Now, whoever these guys are, I'm sure they will appear again and in that moment we'll have a great chance of catching them; until then, looking for Terra in a blindfold way won't have any result" – said Robin in the same tone that a teacher use to talk to his class.

"For you is easy to say we have to wait, at the end you never supported or understood Terra, that plate was a mere formalism for you and the words written in it only spoke for one of us. I know she lied and betrayed us, but in the end he sacrificed her life to save us and it is about time for you to consider that fact. If you want to seat and doing nothing is ok for me, but I'll do whatever I can to find her, is the least she deserves for saving us" – said Beast Boy before turning into a cheetah to leave the cave running at maximum speed.

"…from a situation where she put us in the first place" – thought Raven, although given the tension of Beast Boy speech, the Titan chose to say nothing.

"Freeze!" – screamed Cyborg while preparing himself to run after his partner.

"Is better to let him go" – said Robin while stopping his metallic friend – "Beast Boy is having a hard time and is obvious that he doesn't like the idea of waiting; maybe some patrol time will help him to feel better"

The other Titans, looking very disappointed due to Beast Boy departing, decided to go back to the Tower and get prepared to respond to another attack; after all, the robbers couldn't get the Aztec pieces from the museum so the idea to wait for another strike wouldn't look too wild for them.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor were in a rooftop near the Order of the Chaos Headquarters, the young warrior didn't want to stop until reaching his destination because there were a lot of thing to inform, the leaders betrayal among them; it was necessary to define the strategies to use and investigate why the blonde girl was so important for Zarth and his crew. Nevertheless, the sound of a text message in his cell phone stopped him, no due to the message itself but for the fact that it was from Jessy and it was catalogued as emergency; Blackwood red it and get very disturbed for his friend's words, the message was short, but straight to the point and powerful:

_Don't come to the headquarters for any reason; you must contact me at once. It is vital that you talk with me before doing anything, reply me as soon as possible to know that you red this message._

Connor spent some minutes trying to find an explanation to what he just red, if something was a trademark for Jessy it was that she barely overreacted and, considering the way in which she asked him to stay far away of the headquarters something deeply bad should had happened; the young mage meditated for some instants and then he replied the message using a code which they only knew in order to confirm the identity of the sender. Almost immediately the member of the Order of Darkness received a call.

"Jessy? Is that you?" What the hell is that about not going back to the headquarters?" – asked Connor.

"And you still dare to ask? After what you did I don't even think on going back" – answered the woman.

"What the…? I don't understand. How do you know it?" – inquired Connor amazed.

"So, is it true? I can't believe it. How could you…? Jack called everybody to an emergency session to inform us what happened" – said Jessy very affected by the facts.

"I don't understand. Something is fishy, I can't believe that Jack told everything to everybody" – said Connor more for himself than for his friend.

"He had to, after all, a Master's death can't be hidden, can be? Although considering that you are his murderer it is easy to understand your attitude… I… The truth is that I expected you telling me that he was blaming you. I never believed that you were capable of doing that atrocity" – said Jessy starting to cry.

"What the hell did you just say! One of the Masters died! …Wait a second… What told you Jack exactly?" – asked Connor fearing the worst.

"You already know that"

"Stop the paranoid show Jessy, it is important for me to hear all the details of what Jack said to you".

"Jack came very frustrated to the base and almost immediately he called the session… in which he said that Joseph had been killed in an ambush set by you" – replied Jessy trying to keep calm.

"Asshole! Well, now everything gets clear. Damn it! He knew that I would unmask him and he decided to play rude; but killing Joseph… How could he dare to do such a thing?" – said Blackwood trying to put his ideas in order.

"Now it's me who don't understand? What do you mean with all that you just said?" – ask the woman.

Connor gave her all the details about what had happened in the cave since his arrival, going through the blonde girl apparition, until their escape and put a big emphasis in Joseph and Jack's betrayal.

"I can't believe it, well now I understand Jack's play" – said Jessy.

"That crazy guy knew that I'd expose him before the council and he decided to take the initiative in the worst way he could".

"The worst part is that he indeed accomplished his mission; almost all the members of the Order are after you with the only intention to kill you; not to mention that others decided to stay here in the case you dare to come".

"And considering the facts, it is not wise to go there to tell my version".

"I don't think they even let you talk, and it is senseless thinking they are going to believe you; keep in mind that it'd be your word against a Master".

"Well my friend, I really appreciate your warning, but it's no safe to extend this conversation anymore; if they find our connection you'll be in great danger".

"I know it but what are you going to do?"

"I don't know it yet, but I can assure you that I won't let them catch me, not without a big fight at least; see you later".

Connor hung up the cell phone and started to run at maximum speed towards the only place where he could receive some help in that moment; the idea to go there was not comfortable for him, but given the situation, the alternatives weren't better.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Robin was looking for something to eat when the sound of someone knocking the front door came to his ears; it was very unusual to receive visits those days and it was even less common to have visitors at that time. The boy wonder waited to see if anybody else had listened the calling, but alter realize that the others were in their respective bedrooms he decided to see what was happening. If the leader of the Titans could swear something on his life it was that there were a very few things with the power of surprising him, but what he saw after opening the door not only shocked him but left him speechless. Before him was the strange suspicious guy accused of robbing Terra's statue, but the thing which caused his surprise was seeing Terra lying asleep in the guy's arms; if that day in the morning somebody had bet him that a few hours later he would be seeing that scene, the former Batman's apprentice had lost a huge amount of money. Obviously, Connor began the conversation after seeing the reaction of the other.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but terrible things have happened and it's necessary for me to inform you; besides this girl need some help and I thought you were the right guys to ask for it" – said Connor using his most formal tone.

"Well my friend, you have no idea of the revolution that your presence will cause" – replied Robin while inviting the other to enter and trying to realize what was happening before his eyes.

_What will happen when the others see Connor? What will Beast Boy say when he sees Terra alive? What will Terra do when she awakes? Will Connor continue being chased? Stay tuned and don't miss next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** Well, at last I finish this chapter and it's a little longer than the others. I've been very busy since last one; in fact I left my sweet Venezuela and went to Spain to make a Master and right now I'll be living in Scotland for two and a half months in order to have the second term's lectures of this Master. But I'm trying to find time between lectures, traveling and moving on periods to write this story; so don't be afraid that this will continue 'til the end. I know this chapter was too much centered in Connor and I promise that the others will have more words about our heroes. Well Terra finally appeared so let's see how she is received by her… friends? Definitely Jack is a man without compassion and he has no limits when he is after something or he believes he's in danger; and poor Connor, he's being chased by his own partners… definitely it's not a sunny day for them. Anyway, step by step you'll start to discover the mysteries surrounding the young mage and the blonde girl; not to mention that hard tests awaits for our heroes; so don't miss the action and see you in next issue.


	5. A Very Expected Reencounter

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 5**

"**A Very Expected Reencounter"**

Jessy was still thinking in what had happened, Joseph's death, the chasing against Connor, the Master's betrayal and Jack's plot; in a matter of hours her entire world had changed; she knew that she was lying in between a very dangerous net and several times had the idea of running away of the order, but one reason stopped her; in those moments, she was the only source of information Connor had in order to know why the blonde girl was so important and why had occurred that sudden alliance between their Masters and Zarth. The woman knew she didn't have much time to find the truth and what she had found so far were pretty much vague if you wanted to solve the mystery; for that reason she decided to go immediately to the most antique scrolls and prophecies of the Order, among them lied the story of the group and the Original Prophecies; if the information she was looking for lied somewhere it should be there.

Jessy went deep in the library and calmly searched the books she wanted to investigate; she knew that it was a very risky move because those documents were forbidden for all the members of the Order, only the Masters and some special members could have access to them. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop herself due to technical stuff, but she indeed should avoid being detected, breaking that rule was badly punished; but, the worst part was that she being pulled apart, Connor would end blindfold in the middle of a deadly plot. The woman soon arrived to the place where the scrolls were saved and, with no doubts, she used her special gift with them; instants later accurate and exact copies of the manuscripts appeared floating before her who took them quickly and then saved the original ones exactly as they were found. The operation was done and the next step was to study the information just obtained, although to do that she needed to leave the building, the headquarters was the most dangerous place to begin a conspiracy against the order. Jessy took the copied scrolls and hid them to leave the building; fortunately, the fact that she was considered a useless witch by the others helped her to avoid the inspections that were made by the others since Joseph's death, and that made her escape easier. What she didn't realize was that a guy started to follow her since the very moment she left the headquarters, and, in his face a mixture of luxury and evil could be easily seen…

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor entered with caution inside the Tower which acted as the Teen Titans Headquarters; he knew that in those moments he was not the most nice person for them and his common sense demanded caution; the young man went to the couch that was lying in some kind of recreational room where he was guided by Robin and he put the unconscious Terra on it in order to allow her to rest comfortably. On the other hand, his host was debating between many hypothesis to explain the sudden apparition of that mysterious guy in the Tower, which indeed would have been more surprising if he would have arrived alone; but seeing him having Terra, who obviously had returned to her normal status, with him made his presence more reasonable; the problem was that any idea to explain that situation that came to the Teen Titan leader's head was more wacky than the previous; at the end, the boy wonder decided to stop his thinking process to call the others, he knew that the next scene would be tough and that reminded him a phrase he heard a long time ago in a far place: _if you are about to screw it up, the sooner the better_.

Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy walked behind their leader without understanding why they had just been awaken so late and so vehemently; they looked tired and sleepy, not to mention that they were a little annoyed for seeing their precious sleeping time being interrupted with no explanation at all. Robin called everybody with a dead body face and every time they asked him what was happening he only said that they had to see it with their own eyes. When the Teen Titans entered to the main dinning room in the Tower almost immediately they understood that their leader was so right; before them was a scene which they never would have imagined not even if their life would depend on it. Before them was that mysterious mage who was walking from a side to the other looking uncomfortable and if that wasn't surprising enough, in the couch was Terra, in her human form, sleeping. None of them could believe what they was seeing; the fact of having Connor in their very main dinning room was intriguing, but Terra being normal again and lying a few meters away was something they couldn't handle; not even Beast Boy imagined himself seeing her in that form, not that soon at least.

"Greetings" – said Connor looking nervous and with a drop on his back head after seeing the wacky expressions of the titans in front of him.

Beast Boy didn't even bother in answer the mage's words, the green one ran immediately towards Terra and after confirming that she was alright he stood up to face to newcomer, but before Connor could say something, the teen titan threw his bare hand towards the mage, luckily, Connor's reflects were quick enough and he could evade the attack by jumping backwards, but unfortunately when he touched the floor he slipped with a glass and ended against a side wall. This time, everybody, including Beast Boy, had several drops in their heads.

"Hey! Nice to see you too" – said Connor while taking his head trying to stand up.

Although, the mage didn't even finish the phrase, when, a curious Starfire started to pinch him in the arms and the chest. This action made Connor blush and he got even more nervous so he decided to disappear and then appear near the blond girl; that move scared the red haired girl a little bit, but she quickly regained control of herself.

"It's neither a hologram nor a robot" – said Starfire happily for the result of her peculiar investigation, not to mention that her words made everybody fell on the floor; after that all the guys stood up with more drops on their heads. But the green titan got back to reality quickly.

"Why did you kidnap Terra? What do you want with her?" – said Beast Boy while going towards the mage.

"Kidnapping is a nasty word, you know, I only saved her to be destroyed" – replied Connor.

"Save her from what? How did you dare to take her away" – inquired Beast Boy while running towards the mage.

Connor disappeared and appeared in the other side of the room, but immediately Beast Boy started running towards him again in order to beat him so the mage had to disappear again to appear where he was in the first place and again the green boy went after him… the cycle went on and on making the others to get bored while a huge army of drops appeared on their heads.

"Could you please stop disappearing so I can beat you and end with this ridiculous scene we're performing! – screamed Beast Boy while standing in the middle of the room.

"I assure you I'll pretend I didn't hear that" – answered Connor sceptical – "If you let me talk for 5 minutes I'll be able to explain you what has happened and why I'm here with this person who you obviously know"

"Easy guys, if Connor would have taken the statue with bad intentions he wouldn't be here with her now, would he?" – said Starfire suspicious.

"Statue you said? Well, now I get it; no my friends, I didn't take the statue, when I saw it the Order of Chaos had it, but it would be better explaining everything from the beginning" – indicated the mage.

"You have not demonstrated being on our side, 'friend', for me you are as suspect as the others" – said Raven with sarcasm without taking her eyes away from him.

"Not to mention that you helped two of these guys to escape when they fought us" – added Cyborg.

"Ok, you have a point; I know I haven't behaved as the perfect ally so far, but I had my reasons; and, if you let me explain myself you'll be able to understand me; besides, if you still thinking of me as an enemy after hearing my story we can have that fight you want so badly, so do we have a deal here?" – said Connor while sitting in a chair.

"Then let's listen what you have to say" – commanded Robin.

Connor took a deep breath and told everything that had happened since Zarth apparition until his arrival in the Titan's Tower, the mage didn't even bother in hiding that he indeed helped the two thieves back in the museum but now he explained the reasons that led him to do it; the titans listened carefully the entire story; and, when their guest finished it many question emerged, but the main ones were referred to what kind of connection lied between Terra and that Order and why they freed her from her stone prison with the only intention of destroying her; an uncomfortable period of silent followed the speech for several minutes until Robin decided to interrogate the mage.

"And why you come to tell us everything just now? Why you remained in silent after Zarth apparition?"

"I'm going to be frank with you and I hope that doesn't bother you; actually this problem was none of your business, at least until now that both Orders are after Terra, I believe that was the name used by the fighty one" – said Connor seriously but with a little of sarcasm at the end of the sentence – "For many years the battle between the Order of Darkness and the Order of Chaos has been developed without allowing outsiders to interfere, so this issue should be solved like the others in the past, only between members. Nevertheless, now one of our Masters has betrayed us and both Orders are after me so I decided that it was about time to ask for help" – ended Connor without turning a hair.

"Oh! What a hero when you are in trouble you come at once to us" – condemned Raven ironically while crossing arms.

"Well 'Crow Girl' I think I could go to some friends in the Order looking for help; in fact, without taking in count the fact that they are after me to kill me, going with them would have been a better idea" – answered Connor with sarcasm.

Raven looked the mage willing to kill him, it was obvious that the nickname used by him bothered her a lot; however, before she could do or say something her green friend used his right to speak.

"What happens with Terra? Why is she sleeping?"

"She seems to be in some kind of trance or something like that doesn't her, 'Potter Boy'?" – indicated Raven, using his normal monotone and striking back the mage's previous move.

"You're right, Terra was very stunned when I rescued her from the Order and I had to put her in a trance to stop her attack" – replied Connor.

"Can you put people in trance?" – asked Robin curious.

"It's more effective in 'muggles', really" – answered Blackwood while smiling at Raven who got even more angry.

"'Muggles' you said?" – inquired the boy wonder.

"Humans without powers, but I think Raven can explain you that better than me, after all she was who mentioned that book" – replied the mage.

Raven stared at Connor for a while, but then she realized that she was getting blushed so she turned his head while crossing arms; obviously the other titans didn't understand a thing and Robin decided to leave that part of the story for a later time.

"But Terra indeed has powers, so how could you put her in a trance then?" – asked Robin.

"If a person with powers is through a crisis which altered his emotions I can use that situation to put him in a trance; and, that was exactly what happened with Terra"

"Can you awake her then, can't you?" – inquired Beast Boy.

"Of course, in fact I'll do it right now"

Connor went to the couch and kneeled beside the blond girl, right after that he put his right hand over Terra's face and almost immediately a shining light covered her face and she started to awake a few seconds later.

"Where am I? What happened?" – started saying Terra while regaining her consciousness.

But when the blond girl saw the mage she couldn't help to remember the scene when Connor put her in a trance, but the hardest thing to forget was the moment when his eyes lost life; for that reason Terra stood up jumping and got as far as she could from the member of the Order of Darkness; however, after seeing the other titans she regained control of herself, and she got completely calmed when Beast Boy embraced her while crying.

"I can't believe you're alive, I can't believe you're back" – were the two only phrases that the green boy managed to say in that moment.

Terra didn't know what to do, it was too things at once, the last thing she remembered was a lava river and a strong burning feeling, the next image she had in her mind was a huge group of people singing canticles and then those dark eyes with no signs of life; however, now she was being embraced vehemently by the most important person in her life and that feeling outshined all the others. The young girl answered his embracement although the words didn't come out from her mouth, she wanted to tell him so many things and at the ended she couldn't articulate any sound. Finally, Beast Boy stood aside her and then the blond girl was strong enough to speak again.

"What has happened? How did I get back here?" – asked Terra being very nervous while sitting on the couch where she was sleeping before.

Robin took the word then in order to tell her all the things that happened since her becoming a stone statue until her sudden apparition lying in Connor's arms, obviously the part where the mage put her in a trance couldn't be avoided for obvious reasons; Terra's reacting after seeing Blackwood indicated that she remembered very well that part of the story.

"Wow, I can't believe what you just said… there are just too many things" – answered Terra while shocking her head.

"Don't worry, little by little you'll accept everything; it's logical you being stunned after all the things you went through" – said Robin with caution.

"I guess that eventually I'll understand everything" – replied Terra while turning her head to see Beast Boy who was sat besides her.

Both glances crossed and they got blushed almost immediately and that made the others realize that some ties simply can't be broken, not even for a fire or death. In that moment, Cyborg took the initiative and, by using signals, he invited the others to leave the main dinning room in order to leave alone the love birds; they had a lot to say each other and that conversation couldn't be public. Starfire didn't understand the situation, but she left the room beside the others and after that she faced Robin asking for an explanation; the boy wonder couldn't help to blush after listening Starfire's question and immediately he looked his friends asking for help, it was obvious that the Tameranian had put him in a very uncomfortable situation. The show that he saw next was remarkable: Cyborg ran at maximum speed towards the other common room, Raven, using her powers, created a hole in the floor and escaped through it, Connor turned his head around looking for some support but when he saw nobody he glance at Robin who signaled him desperately looking for help, but Connor, after having a good and short thinking session, decided that the right thing to do was to say goodbye to the boy wonder and then disappear with no trace behind. After all that Robin realized that he was alone in that problem and he started to think how to solve it nicely, easily and, above all, quickly.

"You haven't answered me yet why we had to leave Terra alone with Beast Boy? Besides, what were all those signals you just made?" – asked a curious Starfire.

"Eh… well… I mean… I" – started Robin looking pretty nervous – "Ok, here it goes, before what happened in that cave with Terra and Slade, Beast Boy and Terra were falling in a feeling humans call love"

"Falling in love? Does that mean they were boyfriend and girlfriend?" – asked Starfire remembering some TV shows where people said that all the couples were formed by people falling in love with other people.

"Well, not exactly, or yes, I don't know it for sure, but I think so" – tried to answer Robin.

"That is so beautiful friend Robin! Love is so cute! Could you please explain me everything about love? Do you love someone? Will I fall in love someday? How it feels to love?" – asked Starfire joyfully.

Robin looked, with his mouth wide open, the red haired girl and after gulping several times, the boy wonder fell on the floor unconscious.

"Are you ok friend Robin? Hello? What did I do now?" – asked Starfire while trying to grab her friend.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor arrived to a completely dark room and alter look it entirely he decided to leave it and have a tour in the place where he was staying, after all, Terra and the fighty boy had a long conversation ahead and the same was happening with Robin and the red haired girl; besides neither Raven nor Cyborg was around. But the mage not even started to move when a known voice stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going? Are you trying to spy us I suppose?" – asked Raven while floating from her hideout in order to face the mage.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're starting your paranoia again" – said Connor starting to bore due to the Titan's actions.

Raven didn't answer the question; she was trying to read his thoughts in order to find his real intentions.

"_Do you really think I'm going to allow you read my mind?_" – asked Connor using telepathy.

The young titan couldn't help being very surprised and getting blushed due to Connor's move, after all, she had been discovered trying to push her luck… and this was the second time…

_What will happen between Beast Boy and Terra? Will Robin be able to solve the little problem he has in his hands because the Tameranian hard questions? Will Connor let Raven to win something just for the record? Stay tuned and don't miss next chapter._

**Author's notes:** Well, Now this chapter is done and I think it isn't longer than the previous one he, he. I know many people wanted the conversation between BB and T in this chapter but it was necessary to set up all the things first, don't you think so? As I promised in the last chapter, this one included a lot of our heroes and this tendency Hill be kept from no won. Wow, poor Robin, he's going to need a lot of deep breathing if he wants to solve that little 'red haired girl' problem he has. By the way, Raven still with her paranoia against poor Connor, although the scoreboard is 0-2 against the 'Crow Girl' he, he. Ah, about the "Potter part" don't worry this fic won't be a cross over, that was only a nickname war he, he. Well more action will be coming in next chapters and new things will be discovered as well so don't miss the action and see you in next issue.


	6. A Mage's Bad Day

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter Six**

"**A Mage's Bad Day"**

Terra was looking at the floor below her feet, the young girl didn't dare to raise her head and she was rubbing her hands looking very nervous. Beside her was the man who didn't hesitate to go against his partners for believing in Terra's goodness knowing that the blond girl hardly showed it even in the most favourable cases. The man who despite of seeing her betraying everybody, always thought that she was being manipulated instead of believing that she was evil; the man who loved her with all his heart despite getting strongly hurt when she sold herself to Slade. It was he who should have suffered a lot when she decided to sacrifice her life in order to try to fix the mess she had just caused. What could she tell him? How could she speak to him? Those were some of the questions that the fair-haired girl was conjuring up in her head while letting herself fall into her darkest fears. Fortunately, it was Beast Boy who actually dared to break the uncomfortable silence after seeing she wouldn't do it.

"Why?"

It was a really simple question, in grammatical terms of course; it was a "one syllable word", but that question hit Terra badly, her heart and soul were beaten by that word in the same way the guillotine cut people's heads in the French revolution and that left her strongly hurt. How could she explain to him what she had done? How could she find a reasonable story to justify all that? She was received by the Titans with open arms, they gave her the home she never had; they trusted her, treated her like an equal even though she couldn't control her powers… she was one more titan and how did she repay that? Double-crossing them like Judas, and worse still it was with the Titans' worst enemy, Slade; informing the weakness of her friends to the bloodiest predator. Destroying Beast Boy's heart who loved her above all with a real and strong feeling that was so pure that it was almost innocent. No, there wasn't any explanation for that atrocity and because of that the question asked by him was so painful for her.

"Nothing justifies neither what I did nor the pain I caused" – replied Terra, tears dropped from her eyes which were still focused on the floor.

"I didn't ask you for an explanation, Terra. I just want to know what happened for you to change so much. I need to know what made you hurt us so badly. Besides, I want to know what is my degree of fault in all this" – argued Beast Boy while looking at his former partner.

"Fault you said?" – Asked Terra almost in a whisper – "You're guilty of nothing".

"Maybe not directly, but in one way or another I was the one who made you leave us in the very first place and that caused your first meeting with Slade" – said Beast Boy.

"One way or another you said!" – Yelled Terra while standing up and glancing at him with anger – "You betrayed me when you told Robin that I couldn't control my powers… I don't define that as 'in one way or another'"

"I didn't betray you" – replied Beast Boy without turning a hair – "Robin discovered that by himself; your weakness was evident and he is so clever. Besides, you didn't even give me the opportunity to explain myself. You were the judge, jury and executioner against me, and it wasn't a fair trial. Nevertheless, I could have gone after you but I didn't; I guess that is my responsibility for what happened" – argued Beast Boy in a complaining manner.

"Is that true? Didn't you tell him anything?" – asked Terra surprised.

"I never broke the promise I made to you" – answered the Titan calmly.

After hearing those words Terra couldn't help but cry. If everything that happened before wasn't enough, now she realized that the main motivation for doing what she did was fake, or even worse, she just misunderstood everything. How could she run away from the man who always trusted her? She was so angry with herself, now she knew that everything was the result of her being so impulsive. She could have taken a few minutes to ask the right questions before making a decision; however, instead of doing so she decided to sell herself to Slade. Terra wanted to die; she didn't understand why she still lived. She supposed that if she threw herself into the lava everything would end and she could finally rest. But, far from that, she was being interrogated by Beast Boy who wasn't exactly happy with her presence, or so she thought. Suddenly, the girl with blond hair felt her partner's hand on her shoulder and that gesture surprised her a lot; in fact, her reaction was to step aside and after that, the titan took the word.

"You're not the only one who is suffering here; for me, a year has passed since… well, since you became that damn statue and it hasn't been easy" – Beast Boy could barely end the phrase because of the pain he was feeling while reliving what happened in the cave; however he found the necessary strength to continue talking – "I thought you and me had something, you know. Didn't the times we spent together mean anything to you?"

"Of course they meant a lot to me!"

"So why didn't you include me in your decisions? When you left me that day you didn't even ask what happened; and, when you decided to sacrifice your life to save us you barely let me talk."

"What would I have won for doing it? You didn't want me doing it and I'm sure you would have stopped me if you had the chance and I couldn't let that happen" – said Terra cutting Beast Boy's words.

"Why?"

"We would have died and you know it"

"Could you swear that on your life? You didn't even give us time to think of another solution; you just took the easy way…"

"What the hell did you just say! The easy way! I really don't know how or why I'm here, but I suppose something very strange happened, otherwise I would be DEAD right now, you know. Do you find it easy to throw yourself into a lava river knowing that you will be dying bit by bit in the most painful way! Do you find it funny being consumed by the flames step by step 'til nothing is left of you? Do you think it is easy to realize that you have to die in order to save everybody?" – yelled Terra angrily after hearing Beast Boy's words.

"And do you think it's easy to spend every day of your life cursing your fate while seeing a stone statue? If we are alive we always can find another way to do things, even in the most desperate situations, but when you're dead nothing matters anymore Terra. Did you really sacrifice your life to save us? Or you just did it to redeem yourself? It was me who looked for a way to bring you back day after day since then. It was me who saw your face being motionless while crying because I didn't have you with me; it was me who talked to you day after day dreaming you'd listen to me and hoping to hear an answer from you. No Terra, I really don't know how hard it is to face death, but I do know what it is being the living dead" – said Beast Boy letting go all his anger while standing up and walking towards one of the room's walls.

"I… I'm sorry Garfield… I didn't think my sacrifice would hurt you so badly… I thought with time you'd forget me and that I'd only be a bad memory in your life… I never imagined that, well that you…"

"Loved you? Well once again you're wrong… I have not only loved you since I met you, but I've loved you day after day while sleeping beside you, knowing that you'd never hug me or awake me with a kiss; and, yet now I'm still loving you with the same feelings as before" – said Beast Boy cutting Terra's words.

"What can I do? Nothing will repair the things I've done to you, if I could turn back time I would, but unfortunately that's not possible now. You have no idea of how much I regret what happened or how regretful I am for betraying you or how angry I am with myself for making you suffer in the way you just told me… and how painful is to know that I destroyed what could have been a beautiful story between us" – said Terra hoping so badly for Beast Boy to give her another chance of starting over again.

"You still haven't told me why you betrayed us" – said the young titan changing the subject.

"Why do you still torture me? I don't get what you will gain by attacking me in this way" – said Terra understanding that she had no chance with him – "I left the Tower feeling both desperate and betrayed by the man I appreciated and wanted the most… you. Without knowing at all I opened my heart to revenge and that was used by Slade in order to manipulate me as he wished, the rest you already know…" – said Terra.

"You're wrong, you haven't told me yet why after coming back with us and after all the things we went through you continue with your betrayal" – clarified Garfield.

"Frankly I don't know. Perhaps vengeance and Slade's words blinded me… I was afraid of you betraying me again and that time I wanted to have the first word… there were so many things, I'm still confused" – said Terra.

"But you could choose; you had the opportunity Robin never had. It was you who decided attacking and betraying us; only after you started to refuse Slade's control he used that neural suit to force you to obey him, not before" – condemned Beast Boy.

"Where the hell do you want to go with all of this? What do you want me to say? I was an idiot for not trusting you and for letting myself fall into hatred and vengeance; I decided to betray you because of my anger and all of my actions were motivated by wrath. I know nobody was controlling me neither physically nor any other way when I did what I did; everything that happened was my fault alone" – replied Terra feeling how the anger and pain burned her from the inside – "If you feel so happy by pushing me into the mud that I myself created, I think it's kind of hypocritical of you to tell me that you still love me. I know I'm the worst person on earth and I'm neither trying to deny it nor justify it; but I won't stay here for you to use me as a dartboard" – ended Terra while heading towards the exit.

"Do you still love me?" – asked Beast Boy while grabbing her right arm to stop her.

"Is that important?"

"More than you know"

"Well, yes, I still love you, my feelings have been the same since that very day" – answered Terra after a deep breath and avoiding Beast Boy's glance.

"Then I think it's about time to finish what we started a long time ago"

Beast Boy pulled her towards him and embraced her in such a way that their eyes welled up with tears; she tried to focus on the idea of being loved and he was overwhelmed to have her in flesh and blood. After that, he took her chin with his right hand in order to kiss her on the lips while both closed their eyes. It was a kiss that transported them almost a year back to when they were interrupted before feeling that warm sensation fill them… definitely, that moment was the beginning of a new period in their lives and neither him nor her wanted that tornado of emotions and sensations to stop…

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Jessy walked quickly through the streets although she barely had walked a few ones when she realized that she was being followed, but the scariest part was that she wasn't sure who was doing it. The woman entered to several shops and a couple of malls trying in vain to lose her stalker and soon it became obvious for her that whoever it was, he or she was an expert and running away from that situation wouldn't be so easy. Quickly, the girl decided to contact Connor so she pulled out her cell phone from her bag, but in that very moment her hand was grabbed by a man Jessy knew very well.

"No, no, no my dear friend, you don't need to call a friend to answer this question" – said a man a little taller than Jessy, his blond hair and blue eyes hardly forgettable.

"Let me go! What do you want from me? Jack will know this and I can assure you you'll be in trouble" – yelled Jessy while trying in vain to get free.

"Don't worry, soon you'll be in front of him and you'll be able to tell him whatever you want; Although, I really doubt you can say something that really makes me lose his will taking into account that it was he who sent me after you in the first place" – replied the man.

"If he wants to talk with me I don't understand why he sent you to capture me like I was a criminal, he could call me himself" – said Jessy trying to hide her fear after what she just heard.

"But you indeed are a criminal my dear Jessy; and one of the worst kind if you allow me to say it. Stealing documents from the Order is a crime and if those documents are restricted the crime is even worse" – answered the main smiling happily.

Jessy stopped fighting almost immediately after hearing those words it was obvious that Jack knew what she had done. At that time she was in great trouble and she was sure her life was in danger. The man realized her resignation and he politely asked her to walk ahead towards the headquarters where they both started the chasing act a few hours ago; Jessy began to walk being very nervous trying to imagine what was waiting for her in there, obviously fearing the worst. Definitely, since Connor didn't know what was happening, there was no hope of somebody stopping those guys doing whatever they want with her… and that thought scared her badly…

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor was in the Tower's kitchen, all the things that happened before made him feel hungry so nothing better than to cook a good meal to spend the time. A short while had happened since his last encounter with Raven and he hadn't seen her again after that. Blackwood was still smiling remembering the face of the titan when he discovered her trying to read his mind and the quick move that she made afterwards to get out of sight. The man was standing in front of the opened refrigerator trying to find something decent to eat and fortunately he found very quickly a good frozen beef. He immediately took it out of the freezer to the microwave to start defrosting it. After that, he took some garlic pieces and some parsley branches, he peeled the first ones and cut the others in small pieces then he took a frying pan and started melting some butter and afterwards he started frying the garlic and the parsley. It didn't take so long before the tempting aroma started filling the entire floor.

"Well, I think I haven't lost my touch despite the fact that I've not been cooking so much these days" – said Connor to himself while enjoying the aroma of the food.

Cyborg arrived to the kitchen a few minutes later, the titan was attracted by the delicious smell of the food and then he got surprised after seeing the newcomer taking over the place.

"Well buddy, if that tastes as it smells I'll hire you as our official chef" – said Cyborg jokingly.

"Thanks for the compliment, I really enjoy eating and this 'hobby' of mine made me learn the art of cooking a long time ago" – replied Connor proudly.

"I think in English that means that you can't stop eating, am I wrong?" – asked Cyborg.

"Well, if put in that way it doesn't sound that good you know? I can stop eating, but… I just don't like it he, he, he... but for the record I don't like candy" – answered the mage with some drops in his head.

"At least what you're cooking seems more delicious than Beast Boy's tofu… well thinking that again, any meal is better that Beast Boy's tofu" – said Cyborg.

"Well if you eat a lot you need to cook good stuff you know" – said Connor laughing.

"So what are you cooking by the way?" – asked the titan.

"Rice and a Beef fried with garlic" – replied Blackwood.

Cyborg glanced at the pots used by Connor to cook very analytically like a judge in a cooking contest; the titan was inspecting every detail and he even leaned in to see everything closely; the half robot half human put his hand on his chin giving the impression that he indeed was making a tough evaluation of the food. Obviously, that caused the apparition of several drops in Connor's head and the mage got more and more nervous while the inspection got more and more detailed; but, suddenly Cyborg straightened up showing a big smile.

"You're cooking meat! Boo-yaa!" – yelled the titan very excited causing the other to fall on the floor.

"I think I said I'm cooking a Beef" – said Connor while touching his head and standing up.

"Hey! I'm seeing only one fillet… I'm sorry buddy but you can't come to the Tower and use our cooking utensils to prepare a meal only for you, you have to pay the fee" – said Cyborg while denying with his finger.

"Are you kidding me? What for?" – asked Connor doubtful.

"Hiring Superhero stuff"

"I won't even bother myself asking for the details of that" – said Connor frustrated – "Alright, bring me one more fillet from the freezer so I can pay your 'fee'"

Less than 5 seconds later, the titan gave Blackwood the beef and then the half human half robot started to leave the kitchen.

"I'll wait at the dinning room"

Connor sighed relieved with the titan's departure and then he continued his job; a few minutes later the garlic and parsley sauce was cooked and he took it away of the stove to start preparing the beef; however, in that moment Robin and Starfire arrived.

"Wow, that smells good" – said the boy wonder while smiling.

"The smell is similar to the Crandia'rs from my planet" – said Starfire while multiplying herself to analyze every detail of the meal cooked by the mage.

"Thanks" – said the mage trying to be polite despite of the interruptions and detailed inspections he was suffering in his most sacred moment of the day.

"Hey, but you're only cooking two fillets. Did you plan to invite us?" – Asked Robin maliciously – "After all, this is OUR kitchen you're using and these are OUR cooking stuff, not to mention that those fillets and the rice are OURS too"

"That would be too selfish of you friend Connor" – supported Starfire joyfully.

"Alright, alright. Bring me here two more fillets to start preparing them at once" – said Connor wanting to cry.

"Thanks friend Connor" – replied the red-haired girl while Robin went towards the freezer.

"We'll be waiting at the dinning room" – added the boy wonder while leaving the kitchen.

Connor put his right hand over his face trying to calm down, the worst part had just passed and with luck he wouldn't be interrupted again; a few minutes later his meal would be cooked and all the sacrifice will end being worthy. The mage started tenderizing the fillets with a cooking hammer and after that he started looking for salt and some other ingredients. Just in that moment, another titan arrived.

"What are you doing here now?" – said Raven trying to apparent being annoyed and hiding that the good aroma took her to there.

"Trying to build a space shuttle with cooking stuff" – said Connor resigned to never ending cooking.

"You are so funny" – said Raven with sarcasm and using her monotone voice – "At least you're preparing a meal for all of us according to what I'm seeing" – she continued while glancing at him – "If that tastes different to Beast Boy's tofu I think I'll give it a try" – ended the girl while leaving the kitchen.

"At least she could ask if I could prepare a meal for her or threaten me like the others, couldn't her?" – said Connor frustrated while going to the freezer for another fillet.

The mage finished preparing the fillets and when he was about to start preparing the rice, another interruption happened, this time Beast Boy and Terra appeared.

"Hey! That smells real good" – said the blond girl honestly.

"Thank you very much" – said Connor starting to get really upset – "I guess you also want a fillet each so let's skip the chatting part and let me bring two more pieces from the freezer and maybe I'll be able to finish this before the end of this century" – added the mage while going towards the freezer for the other fillets; now he was speaking in a hungry way… and that meant in a very non-polite one.

"Thanks but we are going to eat downtown" – said Terra after seeing Connor putting the two pieces beside the others.

"You didn't have to do it my friend, I'm vegetarian you know" – added Beast Boy smiling.

Seconds later the two love birds left the kitchen at maximum speed after seeing Connor screaming and beating his head against the wall.

"I think that guy is dangerous" – said Terra.

"He's insane" – added Beast Boy.

Connor had all his veins inflamed, his face was red like a tomato and with his bare hands he was squeezing the fillets he just brought.

"PLEASE, LET ME EAT ONCE AND FOR ALL FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Jessy was tied to a chair within one of the rooms located underneath the headquarters of the Order. Her way to that building had been quiet since she stopped resisting once she was exposed which, by the way, was the clever thing to do given the nature of the situation she was in. Garlack always followed her closely and trying to escape would have been useless because in the subtle art of tracking and chasing Garlack was a top class mage. Once they arrived to the main building, the man took her to the underground rooms through a narrow corridor. Humidity could be smelled since there were too many filtrations in the water pipes and that, combined with the almost nonexistent light, gave the place a scary aspect. It was the first time the woman walked on that part of the building, only members who had broken the rules or captured spies were taken to that place and the irony was that she was acting as both in that moment. After walking down a very large, damp and slippery stairway Jessy was taken to a dark room and the woman's heart started beating faster. Garlack was very cruel with his victims and she knew he was one of the members in the order who felt a huge desire for her so she wasn't expecting anything good. Nevertheless, the man only made her sit into a chair to tie her afterwards and then he left the room without saying a word. That behaviour only increased her fear since the only reason for him to leave the room that way was that Jack was coming. In that moment she heard footsteps approaching and some seconds later Jack entered the room grabbing a lamp that illuminated the entire place. The room wasn't too big and it was pretty clean and well conserved like the other ones in the headquarters, the walls were painted in a light blue tone and the floor was polished. The chair where she was sat and a table nearby were the only furniture in it though; after seeing those details, or maybe before doing it, it was pretty obvious that the room was used as a prison cell and that made Jessy feels even worse. The girl's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden apparition of Garlack who entered just after the Master; that vision froze her since she was about to know her fate.

"Well, well, well, so our little bookworm decided to act behind our backs" – said the mage in a hypocrite way.

"What do you want from me?" – asked Jessy showing some courage.

"What a brave lady! Putting aside that I'm empathic and obviously I know you're terrified I'd buy your performance" – replied Jack – "What do I want from you? Answers, it's kind of unusual that someone dared to even think about putting his hands on the forbidden scrolls, much less trying to steal the original prophecies; and, being honest, you're the last person I'd consider as a suspect" – answered Jack while using his powers to take the copied scrolls from Jessy.

"I was so bored reading the same documents all the time so I decided to change the genre" – pointed Jessy trying to be calm and using a little bit of sarcasm.

"You're surprising me my dear Jessy, really you are; I didn't think of you as a strong person, I mean you have guts; normally women with such good looks like yours have a lack or even a gap in other areas" – said Jack while getting closer to her to grab her neck with his right hand – "I don't want to play silly games, I'm not a talkative person and I prefer quick results so you better start confessing" – he added while starting to asphyxiate her.

"I don't know what you mean, I already told you my reasons" – replied Jessy while coughing and breathing difficultly after Jack released her.

"Don't get stupid my dear librarian, you don't want to annoy me" – said Jack while aiming at Jessy with one of his arms in order to throw her a very powerful electrical discharge, she, at the beginning, tried to stand against it but then she couldn't help screaming in pain – "I can make you suffer in ways you can't imagine and I really enjoy doing it"

"I don't know anything more, please believe me" – managed to say Jessy in the middle of her moans.

"Wrong answer" – replied Jack while throwing her a stronger discharge which the woman couldn't take so she fell unconscious.

"She's strong my master, I think we underestimated her" – said Garlack while looking for some water to awake the prisoner.

"Yes, the girl has character indeed, but it's a matter of time before she tells us all she knows; after all, I'm an elder and she's the weaker member of the Order" – pointed Jack.

"And will you destroy her after that?" – asked Garlack with some expectations.

"I'll do something even better, I'll let you have her as a reward for your loyalty and you'll be able to do with her whatever you want" – replied Jack while taking the water and throwing it to Jessy in order to awake her – "This will be a long and pleasant night" – added the master while throwing another beam to the woman who regained consciousness like being awaked from a nightmare to something even worse.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

It was late in the night and the titans were taking a very pleasant and deserved rest while watching TV, even Raven was with them. After Connor's pathetic performance back in the kitchen she didn't need meditating to feel great. The mage had changed his arrogant manners and he was in a corner trying to remain unnoticed, the good thing was the food, everybody liked it so at the end he could earn some points. A few minutes later, Beast Boy and Cyborg passed all the 150 cable channels five times in a row and since nothing good appeared they decided to plug the play station 2, maybe now they could make up the 10 hours lost in the last session due to the green boy's neglect, obviously Cyborg would be in charge of the saving part. Connor decided to watch the game, but the others didn't think the same and they were about to leave the room when the mage spoke.

"Do you want to see a real show?" – Asked Connor while the others got scared waiting for another scream – "I didn't mean that, please, I told you it was unintentional; in fact, I want to compensate you for my bad behaviour so let me entertain you for a while; I promise you won't regret this… and without more talking let me introduce you Connor's band!"

Immediately a set of drums, a keyboard, a microphone, a bass and a guitar appeared floating in the air.

"I hope you enjoy what you're about to hear" – said Connor while snapping his fingers making a guitar appears in his arms – "Oh, I almost forgot it" – added the mage and 2 sticks appeared floating over the drums – "Well, as you can see, I have a new concept for a one-man orchestra"

After that, a heavy metal ballad started sounding and the titans were surprised by seeing all the instruments play by themselves, the sticks were playing the drums and the bass, the guitar and the keyboard were also being played by some invisible force; nevertheless, when Connor started singing they realized that he was the lead guitarist and vocalist.

_Siento el Calor de toda tu piel_

_en mi cuerpo otra vez._

_(I feel again your warm skin over my body)_

_Estrella fugaz, enciende mi ser_

_misteriosa mujer._

_(Like a shooting star, you turn me on mysterious woman)_

_Con tu amor sensual, cuánto me das._

_(With your sensual love you give so much)_

_Has que mis sueños sean una verdad._

_(Please make my dreams come true)_

_Dame tu alma hoy, has el ritual._

_(Give me your soul now, perform the ritual)_

_Llévame al mundo donde pueda soñar._

_(Take me to a World where I can dream)_

_Uhh! Debo saber si en verdad en algún lado estás._

_(Uhh! I must know if you really are somewhere)_

_Voy a buscar una señal, una canción._

_(I'm going to look for a signal, for a song)_

_Uhh! Debo saber si en verdad en algún lado estás._

_(Uhh! I must know if you really are somewhere)_

_Sólo el amor que tú me das me ayudará._

_(Only the love that you give me will help me out)_

_Al amanecer, tu imagen se va,_

_misteriosa mujer._

_(With the sunrise your image gets blurred, mysterious woman)_

_Dejaste en mí lujuria total_

_hermosa y sensual._

_(You left lust inside of me, pretty and sensual)_

_Corazón sin Dios, dame un lugar._

_(A Heart with no God, please save me a place)_

_En ese mundo tibio, casi irreal._

_(In this warm and almost surreal World)_

_Deberé buscar una señal._

_(I'll have to look for a signal)_

_En aquel camino por el que vas._

_(In that path you're walking)_

_Uhh! Debo saber si en verdad en algún lado estás._

_(Uhh! I must know if you really are somewhere)_

_Voy a buscar una señal, una canción._

_(I'm going to look for a signal, for a song)_

_Uhh! Debo saber si en verdad en algún lado estás._

_(Uhh! I must know if you really are somewhere)_

_Sólo el amor que tú me das me ayudará._

_(Only the love that you give me will help me out)_

Despite the fact that the titans realized almost immediately that Connor was singing in Spanish, they were too charmed with the melody and the guitar solo that the mage was performing in that moment.

_Tu presencia marcó en mi vida el amor, lo sé._

_(Your presence left a love mark inside me, I know)_

_Es difícil pensar en vivir ya sin vos._

_(It's hard thinking to live without you)_

_Corazón sin Dios, dame un lugar._

_(A Heart with no God, please save me a place)_

_En ese mundo tibio, casi irreal._

_(In this warm and almost surreal World)_

_Uhh! Debo saber si en verdad en algún lado estás._

_(Uhh! I must know if you really are somewhere)_

_Voy a buscar una señal, una canción._

_(I'm going to look for a signal, for a song)_

_Uhh! Debo saber si en verdad en algún lado estás._

_(Uhh! I must know if you really are somewhere)_

_Sólo el amor que tú me das me ayudará._

_(Only the love that you give me will help me out)_

Another guitar solo was performed and this one was more complex than the previous, the titans realized it by seeing how fast Connor was moving his fingers around the guitar, the mage was so inside the song and it was obvious that he was having a lot of fun while playing it, he played it with a strong feeling and that made the melody sounds even better. After the song was performed the audience gave the mage a deserved applause; Connor was pleased with that and he even got surprised by seeing Raven applauding too.

"The music is gorgeous, it's a shame that my Spanish is quite poor so I couldn't appreciate the lyrics so well" – said Robin.

"I can say that the lyrics are ok" – pointed Raven.

Everybody, Connor included, glanced at the 'Crow Girl' not knowing what to think. 'Since when Raven speaks Spanish?' Was the question everybody had in mind, but only Cyborg managed to ask it.

"Since Más and Menos apparition I considered useful learning their language; besides, after meditating and saving the world I have some free time" – replied the titan.

The other guys were about to continue the hearing when Connor fell to the floor along with all the instruments. The titans got closer to help him looking very worried at seeing the mage feeling a terrible pain. It was only after several minutes they could see Blackwood getting better.

"What the hell was that?" – asked Cyborg.

"Someone very close to me is in great danger" – replied Connor while standing up to go towards the main door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" – inquired Robin.

"I think one of the Masters have captured my best friend and I have to help her; you have done too much for me by letting me stay with you and I appreciate that, but I won't pull you to participate in this crusade" – said the mage.

"So far I know we have been already pulled into this mess" – said Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy is right, if your best friend is in danger and that Order is behind it you can't go alone; maybe they are using her as a bait to capture you" – pointed Robin.

"I am aware of that, but I have no choice" – answered Connor.

"Then we're going with you" – decided the boy wonder.

The seven guys left the tower towards the Order of Darkness Headquarters with the only purpose of saving Connor's friend and avoid the mage being captured in the process; although in the mage's mind other things were being considered.

"I won't let this happen again, I won't lose another loved one… Madison's death was enough, this time I won't make the same mistake" – thought Connor while going to his destination.

_What will happen to Jessy? Will Jack get the answers he wants? Will Terra and Beast Boy be able to start all over again? Who is or was Madison? Will the concert go on? Will Connor cook again? Stay tuned and don't miss the next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** Well, finally this chapter is finished; as you can see this one is way longer than the others and this is because I've decided to make longer chapters from now on; this way I'll be able to expand my horizons in each issue. By the way, time to thank some guys who have been very nice with me.

- iCy-dRaGoN-MiStReSs: thank you very much for your reviews and suggestions, you've helped me a lot, don't worry chapter 23 of The Chaos Era is already published and I'll start writing chapter 24 of The Chaos Era after finishing chapter 11 of the Spanish version of this story and as you could see I kept my word regarding Sanosuke.

- Sayo Amakusa (Larisa): My dear little sister, I will never forget you, I know you care a lot for me and I promise you I won't play that hard in the football (soccer) league here in Edinburgh.

- Blacklady: Thanks for supporting me and for everything, it's always good having a good friend in the bad times.

- Dande: Thanks for reading my stories and finding the time to help me out with them. Sometimes I need someone reminding me the basics when I'm writing in English.

Likewise I thank all the people who have red my fic so far, come on spread the rumor he, he. And so it's always a good thing having many reviews so please R&R ok? I'm always open to critics and suggestions so even If you don't like my story just let me know it, maybe I can improve it.

By the way, the song performed by Connor is from an Argentine band called "Rata Blanca" (White Rat in English) and the song is called "Mujer Amante" (A Man's Lover in English); if you want to listen it just play the second track of the Album "Magos, Espadas y Rosas" (Mages, Swords and Roses in English). I recommend this band, they're really good musicians and composers; in fact, I think they're the best Latin-American Heavy Metal Band.

Raven speaking Spanish? Well, let's be honest, considering Más and Menos hanging around combined with the free time she indeed has for being locked in her room the entire day and her hobby of reading, it's not wild to think that way, isn't it? At least it's my point of view.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I promise next one will be plenty of action, you're not thinking Connor is going to ring the bell to ask, in a polite way, having Jessy back, aren't you? So don't miss the action and see you in next issue.


	7. A Rescue Operation and Something More

_**The Stone Chest**_

_**Chapter 7**_

"_**A Rescue Operation and Something More"**_

Seven people were running at full speed towards a destination known only by one of them. By seeing how agitated was the wizard, the titans deducted that whoever was that person described by Connor, she was in great danger. A few minutes later, Blackwood asked Terra, who was very uncomfortable by taking him along in her flying stone, to land; the blond girl was still afraid to what the sorcerer could do to her. Definitely, she is going to need a long period of time to get rid of Connor's gaze back in the cave. The other heroes landed aside the first two and quickly Blackwood step forward to talk to his battle partners.

"The Order's headquarter is located in that building over there in the next block" – said Connor pointing with one of his fingers towards one of the main structures ahead.

"Well, well, I think that place could use some painting…" – said Beast Boy.

"Actually, that lack of care that you're talking about is not casual, but now is not the time to discuss it; I'm not completely sure, but I think that the Order's leader has locked Jessy in one of the cells in the dungeons… if that is true we'll have to go to the basement and check the entire place…"

"And what are we waiting for?" – asked Terra while interrupting Connor.

"In the Order there are people who can detect any kind of presence and energy so in the very moment we put a foot inside that building everybody will know we're there" – Added Connor trying to keep the annoyance for being interrupted.

"Ok, that cancels Metal Gear kind of approach I think" – answered Robin while analyzing the possibilities.

"You're right so the only strategy we can use is the open confrontation; however, when they realize that we're inside Jessy's lifespan will be pretty short which imply that we need to act fast and that is the main purpose of this chat time. Taking into account that I'm the only one that know the place I'm intending to use your strength so please buy me all the time you can to find her" – begged Connor in the most formal tone he could use.

"Given the current situation, that strategy sounds right. If that guy wants to harm your friend I'm pretty sure that he is not going to waste time when he knows about our arrival" – answered Robin.

"I disagree with that scheme" – sentenced Raven, her voice being laconic.

"That does it! I'm really starting to piss off with you not trusting in me. I do not know what the hell you have passed through in order to have that enormous paranoia about spies and traitors, but I will definitely not tolerate those kind of comments anymore" – yelled Connor without noticing that Terra lowered her face completely ashamed because of his words – "I am forcing you to nothing, it were you who offered by yourselves to come and help me so far I am concern; but, if you just cannot stop thinking of me as some kind of Judas that's fine with me… farewell"

"If you just stop behaving as your stomach tells I could explain why I disagree with the scheme… I just think is not a good idea that you alone fight against the leader of the Order, he must be a powerful wizard and I'm sure that he will have some warriors at his side… so I think it is convenient that one of us help you out with that fight; in fact, I was going to offer myself for that job" – concluded Raven solemnly while hiding a tiny smile behind her hood.

Connor and the other get frozen and their mouths were wide open after hearing those words; in fact, the wizard couldn't avoid falling backwards along with Beast Boy. It was amazing to see Raven wanting to help Connor and beyond that, she was offering to fight at his side. Definitely, everyday anybody can learn something new…

"Eh, he, he, he, well, sure, it is a great idea what you just said, I mean, well, you know, I'm sorry for being upset before" – started to said Connor visibly ashamed while trying to remove with his right hand several drops that appeared in his head.

"Well, if everybody is ok with Raven's suggestion let's get going" – concluded Robin.

The 7 heroes stood in front of the main door of that base in no time; Connor, Raven and Robin step forward and the other were just right behind. All of them had a lot of expectation for the incoming battle, but the most worried, and by a huge difference, was Terra, the girl have had none sparring since being liberated from the statue and she was afraid of loosing control of her powers while fighting against the wizards… fortunately, Beast Boy noticed that and quickly told her to calm down because he was going to be at her side all the time… those words increased the self confidence of the blond girl.

Connor waved his hand to point the direction that the others must follow once inside and almost immediately, Robin gave the order to begin the rescue operation. The wizard went through a living room kind of place and the other followed him… a few minutes later they were in one of the main corridors, Blackwood turned right and kept walking, this time in a wider corridor with several doors each side none of them attracted the sorcerer attention though. The only thing in the wizard's mind was to complete the mission in time by securing his friend's safety. Finally, the entire group turned again in another corner, but this time they had to stop walking due to the wizard team that was standing in front of them.

"Well, well, so the killer decided to came back to the crime scene and this time he have friends" – said one of the mages with a voice full of irony – "Ok guys, we have to finish this quickly… I have a poker party which is going to start at any moment and I do not want to miss it" – concluded while facing his partners.

After those words, a true rain of energy attacks was thrown towards the incoming group and the titans had to move very quickly to avoid it; however, the wizards didn't have the intentions of letting them go so they cut the way of the intruders. Connors created an energy shield to protect his friends, but he knew that it wouldn't stand long so it was necessary to think fast. The wizards of the order started to join forces to create a powerful attack in order to destroy Connor's defense; and to complete the picture, the titans started to hear footsteps behind and the noise was becoming bigger each second passed. Blackwood realized that he had to act now or never so he pointed the others a door located to the right of the corridor and a few seconds later everybody had entered to some kind of room just in time to lose their enemies. Afterwards, the wizard used one of his most powerful spells to seal the door they had just used and the noise of energy attacks hitting it was heard right after.

"That will slow them down a little, but we don't have much time" – said Connor while taking some air.

"I don't mean to be rude, but this room does not have another exit" – pointed a worried Cyborg.

"That is not entirely true" – answered Connor while moving one of the statues located in the office.

A part of the floor started moving and a few moments later some stairs could be seen.

"Welcome to my office, I'm sorry I don't have the proper time to show it to you, but I think we have more important things to do right now" – said Connor while indicating the others to go down by the stairs – "As you may notice, there is more than one route to go anywhere inside this facility and luckily I have had the time to check almost all of them"

Once everybody was in the lower room, Connor went to one of the walls and activated another statue to close the door used after walking the stairs; afterwards, the titans and the wizard arrived to a wider corridor and resume their quest for Jessy. Blackwood guided them through a complex networks of corridors and secret passages and some time later they arrived to a very narrow passage (the same one used to take Jessy to her prison cell) the member of the Order of the Darkness didn't bother to hide his fear because in that very instant they were extremely vulnerable to an open attack so he indicated the others to hurry in order to arrive to the dungeons. Unfortunately, the worst fears of the wizard became true when a huge explosion, caused by an energy ball, shook the walls making clear that the enemies were getting close. Connor and the titans knew that it was pointless to face them in that place since they could get trapped very easily, but when they tried to move forward, their way was closes by a bunch of wizards. The battle was inevitable.

Many energy waves were shot towards Connor and the titans who threw themselves to the ground in order to avoid them. The wizard, Raven and Robin ran forward to face the bunch of enemies in the front, while Beast Boy, Cyborg and Terra went backwards to fight the other group. At the same time, Starfire raised all that she could to cover her friends. Beast Boy transformed into a mongoose and moved quickly throughout the energy attacks and them jumped towards them while transforming into a big bear to push them far away. Cyborg took advantage to the confusion just created and hit several wizards with his arm canon; nevertheless, another group of warlocks came and one of them used a powerful jinx to knock out the green titan who didn't see that coming. Terra, after seeing the other falling to the ground, used her internal energy to move the floor causing a huge wall to appear between Garfield and the warlocks who almost immediately started to cast several spells in order to destroy it. The blond girl didn't hesitate and went to help Beast Boy; and, after making him to regain consciousness, the two titans along with Cyborg ran to catch their friends.

Robin threw several darts to one of the wizards who stopped them by creating an energy field with his right hand; and, one of his partners counterattack with an icy wave which was blocked by one of Starfire's star bolts. Afterwards, Connor created a powerful storm wind that neutralized the warlocks in front and Raven took advantage of it; the 'crow girl' used her energy to remove some pieces of some of the walls nearby and threw the blocks to the confused enemies.

"Well, well, I really thought this would be more difficult" – said Cyborg when caught the others.

"Considering that we just fought the Order's apprentices, and the bad ones if you ask me, I'd say it has been way too hard" – answered a worried Connor.

"Did you just say apprentices? Why your leader would send inexperienced wizards to face us? – Ask Robin.

"I'm just asking myself that and I only see two reasons so far: either Jack has underestimated us, which I doubt because I know him, or he's trying to set us up" – commented Blackwood gravely.

Robin was about to ask something more when the wall created by Terra was destroyed and that only meant one thing: _the other group was ready to attack_. Wasting time in chatting was no longer an option and less if they really wanted to rescue the girl. A few moments later, everybody got down by some stairs and arrived to a wide room; the dungeons could be seen in the other side of it. However, in the very moment they entered that dark room, it got illuminated and a large group of warlocks, the experienced ones, could be clearly seen. Connor and the titans froze themselves and one of the warlocks started talking.

"This is the end of the road. I frankly did not expect our apprentices could delay you this much" – pointed one of the bosses.

"We didn't want to be rude with them, they are just beginning in this job, and you know, their self-esteem and that stuff" – answered Connor with irony.

"Well, well, it's good to see that you have not lost your sense of humor; and now that we're having this 'friendly' talk, would you mind to tell me why are you here? You have nothing to do in here and to be honest I expected a cleverer move from you. Did you really thought that entering in our base along with that bunch of losers you would be able to defeat us? – said the boss - If you really wanted to take over our organization you chose the worst time and the worst way to do it – added the warlock.

"I have no intentions to take over the order, if I have come it has been due to personal reasons" – said Blackwood.

"Ok, since you obviously do not want to cooperate I'm afraid that we will have to use more persuasive methods. You were to foolish by killing Joseph and now it's time to pay the price of that lack of judgment" – concluded the other while ordering his followers to capture the intruders.

One of the sorcerers threw a rain of arrows towards Connor who created a shield to stop it, but then another warlock threw an energy beam towards Blackwood who didn't have time to block it so he was thrown against one of the walls after receiving the hit. Beast Boy transformed into a T-Rex in order to charge against some of the wizards but one of them quickly created a tornado that trapped and knocked out the green titan. Terra and Raven used their powers to remove some bricks of the walls and floor in order to throw the parts to the warlocks but one of the bosses cast a spell that turned all the pieces into dust while other of the sorcerers made a move with his arm that pulled put the girls against one of the walls. Robin and Cyborg joined Starfire in order to prepare some strategies for round two since they were the last men standing.

"Not even Connor is match for us, much less you… you're just second class fighters" – said one of the warlocks laughing ironically.

"Well you could be surprised by this second class fighters" – answered Robin showing some guts.

The leader of the titans threw several darts against the wizard who was talking before, but he stopped them and made them go back towards Robin with more speed. The boy wonder was not able to avoid two of them and they stuck in his left arm. Cyborg and Starfire started to throw energy beams towards two of the sorcerers who easily blocked the attacks and afterwards, the warlocks cast a powerful curse that petrified the titans, but when they were about to finish them, a fire attack hit the two wizards throwing them against one of the walls.

"Hey, don't forget about me, I'm not defeated yet" – said Connor facing the other warlocks.

"So you've decided to fight seriously" – said the boss of the wizards.

"I know you won't believe me but I have been framed by Jack. He killed Joseph not me. You have to trust me Dominic" – added Connor hoping his friend to believe him.

"You're just right… I don't believe you. I think you came here trying to take over our base by surprise and since your plan has failed you invented that absurd story to buy some time" – replied Dominic.

"Logical as usual, I expected no less from you. I probably didn't believe me if I were you. But I cannot let you capture me, not right now at least. I need to find the truth behind all this first and you know me when I get stubborn with the truth thing" – sentenced Blackwood ready to continue the battle.

Since hearing the conversation between Dominic and Connor distracted all the warlocks, none of them realized that the titans were recovered; in fact, they were planning the strategy for round three. Dominic ordered the others to capture Connor, but Blackwood almost immediately cast a powerful shadow spell and the entire room was covered by total darkness.

"Azarath Mythrion ¡Zynthos!" – said Raven right after.

The ceiling above the warlocks started to fall and afterwards Terra focused her energy and made the ground collapse so almost all the enemies ended one floor down beneath the titans. However, neither the titans nor Connor noticed that two sorcerers were standing with clear intentions of kill them, but luckily the wizards were beaten by an energy attack from Cyborg.

"¡¡¡Boo-Yaa!! Those idiots do not know who they are fighting" – said the half human half robot while joining the others.

"Now that is having the sense of opportunity" – pointed Connor – "Thanks a lot girls, preparing that attack by using telepathy was a brilliant idea" – concluded the young wizard.

Robin, who had removed the darts from his arm to confirm that the wounds were not important, Beast Boy and Starfire stood up and a few moments later, the seven fighters ran at full speed towards the dungeons. Almost immediately, a horrified Connor could see Jessy; she was tied to a chair and her body showed clear signs of being tortured. She had lost consciousness and her face indicated that she had suffered a lot before getting shocked. The young wizard tried to remain calmed and without wasting time he teleported inside the cell in order to free his friend and after doing that he teleported back with the titans.

"We have to get out of here as soon as possible" – pointed Connor gravely while seeing Jessy.

"I'm sorry we arrived here late" – said Robin.

"It doesn't matter. It has been my entire fault. I have been too naïve from the beginning, but we'll have time to think later. Now, we need to escape from here" – answered the wizard.

Connor and the titans was about to return to the wide room when terra said that she was able to built an exit from the place they were standing. The blond girl used all her forces and a golden shine surrounded her hands, afterwards, one of the wall started to move and seconds later a stone stair was built by melting the wall and the rocks behind. Nevertheless, when the group was about to escape a bunch of warlocks found them, but in that very instant, Terra raised her right arm and pointed her right hand towards the sorcerers; the next thing happening was a huge wave of fire emerging from the hand of the titan. The warlocks did not expect the attack and failed to avoid it and therefore they ended lying in the ground and loosing their consciousness. Robin and the others were amazed due to the blond girl attack, but Connor brought them back to reality by reminding them that they still needed to escape. But before they could even move, one of the sorcerers cast an ancient curse against the titans. Robin and Starfire were able to avoid it, but Raven received the attack fully. In that moment, the 'crow girl' lost control of herself and several energy attacks emerged from her. Blackwood quickly considered his options and, after letting Jessy resting in the floor, cast the same spell he used against Terra back in the cave were she was took in the first place; the difference was that his target this time was Raven. Some minutes later, Robin had Raven in his arms while the group was arriving to the street.

"We have to get back to the tower now" – urged Beast Boy.

"That girl needs a doctor, she doesn't look well" – said Starfire.

"Going to the tower is not a good idea; I'm sorry for saying this, but I think that Jack will send several warlocks to destroy the place considering what happened in the order" – pointed Connor feeling miserable.

"I expected something like that so don't worry. I think we all knew the risks of this mission and we decided to take our chances" – said Robin.

"I don't think this is the best place to have this conversation" – said Cyborg making the others realized that they were still to close to the Order's base.

"Please follow me, I know a place where we can be save for some time" – added Connor rising in the air while holding Jessy in his arms.

"Can you fly?" – asked Beast Boy amazed.

"I can do a lot of things, but now it's not the moment for explanations" – cut the wizard.

"You should say that earlier" – said Terra reminding that it had been Connor's idea to share her flying stone.

"And you also have a lot to explain, since when you are able to control fire? – asked Beast Boy, this time to Terra.

"You just heard Connor, now it's not the moment for explanations" – replied Terra nervously.

A few moments later, the titans were flying far away from the order and heading again to a destination known only by the wizard.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Our heroes kept crossing the sky with several questions in their minds; it had passed a lot of time since they crossed the city limits and a dense forest was just below them. The 6 titans were following Connor and none of them had spoken during the trip, which was remarkable considering all the things they had seen so far. Finally, the wizard gave some indications to the others and the entire group started the landing process. As soon as they landed, the titans were very impressed by seeing a house in front of them. The place was certainly not a mansion but the decoration was pretty cool. The house had two floors and a beautiful garden surrounded the construction. The main entrance was clearly visible and a road, which went through the garden, was the way to enter. All the walls were white painted and the contrast with the red roof was just perfect. The titans along side with Connor walked slowly towards the main entrance and some minutes later everybody was inside the place. The living room was very cozy and some good items lied there, the Home Theatre and the Stereo were pretty modern and considering that the house was in the middle of nowhere, the titans didn't expect to find such techno stuff in there. Keeping with the contrasts, a fireplace was right in the middle the room, definitely, the owner of the place preferred the old fashioned ways of warming.

"Welcome to my shelter" – said Connor smiling.

"Shelter? Wow, I don't want to imagine your house them" – said Beast Boy.

"This house belonged to my family but nobody, except me, seemed to like it so I decided to make it my property. In the Order nobody knows about this place so we can rest here safely for some time. Jack has access to a lot of resources now that he's the leader of the order and I think sooner or later he will find our whereabouts. That's why we need to use this time wisely" – concluded the wizard.

"We also need to take care of the injured ones; your friend does not look well and we still don't know what happened to Raven" – said Robin gravely.

"Jessy is going to be fine, her worst injuries are magical rather than physical and I do have the means in here to cure her. Regarding Raven, I really want to be wrong, but considering her reaction and the curse she received I think she has lost control of her emotions" – replied Blackwood.

"What do you mean by that?" – asked Robin looking the 'crow girl' who was resting in one of the couches after he took her there.

"The curse they used is a very ancient one and the person who receives it lose control of his/her emotions completely. You lose your reason and become an irrational being, an animal if you know what I mean. Obviously you become pretty vulnerable at that state and your opponent can easily defeat you" – pointed Connor.

"But that is even more disastrous for Raven" – said Cyborg starting to worry.

"She depends completely of controlling her emotions to use her powers, friend Connor" – added Starfire fearing the worst.

"That explains why she acted that way after receiving the attack and why you were able to put her in a trance" – said Robin speaking his thoughts.

"Exactly, and breaking that curse won't be easy. We'll have to go in depth inside her mind in order to do it and trust me, entering in someone's mind is not a nice experience" – said Blackwood.

"And you don't even know Raven's mind yet" – said Beast Boy with fear.

"That place is very complex and dangerous" – added Cyborg.

"You speak like you've been there before" – said the wizard.

"Yes, we have… and to tell the truth that is something we don't want to repeat" – said Beast boy.

"I don't understand how you were able to go inside her mind; you need pretty advanced magic to do it… well that's not important now, if I am going to help her you need to tell me what I am going to find there" – said Blackwood.

"Are you planning to go there alone?" – asked Cyborg.

"Every person who goes inside her mind is going to disappear of this astral plane so if we all go Jessy and Raven would lay helpless in here… besides, if something happens to Raven while any of us is inside her mind, that person would be destroy immediately" – sentenced the wizard.

"I see your point but it's still to risky to go alone" – pointed Cyborg.

"I'll go with him, after all, that attack was intended to hit me" – said Robin – "She received the impact because I avoided it"

"But you are also hurt, friend Robin. You shouldn't go" – said Starfire.

"This is nothing" – said the leader of the titans while pointing the marks left by the darts in his arm – "Don't worry, I'll be fine"

"So it's settled then. But let me show you the house before leaving. Besides, I need to start the healing process with Jessy. Afterwards we'll prepare for the long journey that waits. In the mean time, Beast Boy and Cyborg can tell Robin and me what are we going to find in Raven's mind when we pay her this social visit" – said Connor in a lame intent of a joke.

The titans, except Terra who was sat in a chair absorbed in her thought and Raven who was still in a trance, followed Connor all around the house. Beast Boy and Cyborg told the others their adventures in Nevermore trying to be as accurate as possible. Connor made an effort to show his guests all the rooms of his shelter while trying to hear every detail of the story. After the 'tour', the guys went back to the living and then realized that Terra hadn't taken part of it. The blond girl continued completely absorbed without even notice the presence of the others. Beast Boy quickly got near her and tried to bring her back to reality.

"What happened? Why you did not come with us?" – asked the green titan.

"I'm sorry, I was day dreaming" – said Terra slowly.

"Well, you just showed some skills back in the Order's base, didn't you? I didn't know you were able to control fire" – said Cyborg.

"Neither did I" – answered Terra.

"Oh come on, don't be mean. How were you able to perform such an attack without knowing how to do it?" – said Beast Boy.

"You seemed to confident when you used that technique" – added Starfire.

"But I'm telling you the truth. That's way I was daydreaming before. I was trying to find a logical explanation for that. I don't even know what I did to use that technique. In fact, if I'd want to do it again I couldn't" – said Terra skeptical.

"Well, that's weird. It's not an easy thing to control fire in that way. I don't mean to be rude but are you sure that Slade didn't teach you that?" – said Robin with extreme caution.

"Yes, I'm sure. I never learnt to control fire when I was his apprentice" – replied Terra trying no to think too much of those times.

"Maybe that incident with the lava gave you those powers" – said Cyborg.

"That would be pretty unlikely. Swimming in lava does not give you such powers… or any powers at all" – sentenced Robin.

"Maybe Terra is part of an ancient prophecy and she has more powers yet to discover and…"

"SHUT UP BEAST BOY!!!!!" – cut the others except Terra who preferred to smile silently.

"Maybe when the members of both Orders performed the ritual to free you from the stone some residual magic was absorbed by you, but that would be very rare too" – added the wizard.

All the guys continued the deliberations about the sudden ability of Terra to control fire; but none of them found a clear explanation to that; so they decided to rest the subject in order to start the preparations for the healing process of both Jessy and Raven. Connor took Jessy to one of the rooms upstairs and let her resting in the bed while he started to prepare a healing potion. Robin and Starfire went to a small library located in the lower floor searching for some books needed in the ritual to go inside Raven's mind. Beast Boy and Terra had decided to go outside and have a walk in the garden trying to spend some time alone; since that kiss they gave in the tower, they hadn't had time for them. Meanwhile, Cyborg stayed in the living watching for Raven.

"It's a nice place, it's been a long time since I could see such a cozy landscape" – said Terra watching all the contrasts between the garden and the forest behind.

"It's definitely an amazing shelter. This guy is full of surprises"

"I don't think he's evil, maybe he's too cautious with his feelings, but I see no evil in him"

"I hope you're right. Another betrayal wouldn't be convenient right now" – said Beast Boy before realizing how rude he just had been.

"I understand" – said Terra lowering her voice and trying to bury her face in her chest.

"I'm sorry Terra, it wasn't my intention to remind you that. I'm just saying that if he betrays us, well, you know, remember that you came with him, so, well, the guys will start…"

"Why of course, everybody would point their finger at me again, right?" – cut Terra starting to get angry – "Maybe I haven't changed at all, maybe Connor is my new master. Maybe we are waiting for the right moment to wipe you out. I bet you're just thinking that right now" – added the blond girl with tears in her eyes – "I think is better for everybody that I just leave this place. I don't want to be an issue and I certainly don't need my mistakes being reminded every five minutes" – concluded the girl walking towards the forest.

"Wait" – said Beast Boy grabbing her hand like that day in the tower – "I'm really sorry for what I said… and I didn't speak on behalf of the others. It was a crazy thought that crossed my mind that's all. I'm really sorry; besides… are you really leaving? Are you going to leave me alone again?" – asked the green titan.

"Sometimes I forget how stupid you can be" – said Terra sighing resigned – "And no, I'm not leaving… well if you behave of course" – ended the blond girl with mischief.

"Hey! What do you mean by that?" – protested the boy.

"You don't ask that kind of things to a girl… watch your manners" – said Terra making the ground below Beast boy to shake.

"Where are you going? Come back" – said Beast boy after falling to the ground due to the little earthquake and starting to chase the girl who was running towards the forest, but this time with no intentions of leaving.

Connor had finished the healing potion and he was along with Jessy trying to make her drink it, the wizard knew that the recovery time would take some time due to her magical wounds. The torture she suffered had to be brutal since her body still showed the marks of the curses received. Only an extreme skilled wizard could have borne that kind of punishment without dying. Definitely, Jessy had more potential than she always thought, but they'd have time to discuss that later. Now she needed to recover fully and then he was going to teach her some stuff. In addition to that, the story told by Cyborg and Beast Boy about Nevermore had amazed Blackwood. He knew about some wizards who controlled their powers by controlling their emotions; but the way Raven did it was remarkable and interesting. The young wizard was pretty anxious to break the curse, but mainly to go inside Raven's mind. Although he was a little bit nervous with the idea. No matter how hard he had tried to avoid it, Connor had started to have some feelings towards the 'crow girl'. She was clever, cunning, smart, powerful, but above all she was a witch and Connor was afraid of find something in Raven's mind that could change his life forever. Nevertheless, there was not turning back at that point, he can't leave Raven the way she was and going inside her mind was the only way to help her. So, after taking a real deep breath, Blackwood went to the living to begin the journey.

Robin and Starfire were still looking for the books but they couldn't find them. There were a lot of texts in that small library not to mention the several scrolls lying in every shelf. The red-haired girl had a wide smile on her face while the wonder boy had a serious expression on his. The Tameranian noticed that and very carefully walked towards him in order to have a little fun. In no time, Starfire was centimeters away of the leader of the titans then…

"Boo!" – whispered the girl in the guy's ear.

Robin got scared to death and fell to the ground while the red-haired girl was laughing very loud. The leader of the titans didn't want to miss his chance to get back and quickly moved one of his legs to bring down the Tameranian. But the girl fell aside him and their faces got just inches apart. What happened next was just the result of the feelings that lied inside them; the boy moved his face and their lips touched, then the two titans melted in an endless kiss. In no time they were hugging without stopping the kiss. Then Robin got a little apart from her and started to caress very softly her left cheek with his right hand. It was like they were in some kind of trance. But seconds later, the buy realized what just happened and her face acquired an intense red color.

"Well, I, eh" – tried to talk the leader of the titans.

"We're boyfriend and girlfriend now, aren't we? I've always watched on TV that only a couple can kiss like that. Are we in love? We have to be, otherwise that kiss would be a mistake… and I don't want that to be a mistake…"

Many water drops started appearing on Robin's head while he listened the endless speech of the girl. The boy tried desperately to escape from that situation and fortunately for him, the help came in the form of a very interesting book he saw just behind Starfire. The title of it was 'Biographies of the Most Important Families in the History of Magic' which gave the wonder boy an idea so he quickly took the book from the shelf and after showing it to the Tameranian, which made the trick of stopping her speech, he started to read it quietly. The book was about the biographies of almost all the magical families that ever existed. The wonder boy and the Tameranian soon realized that the Orders of Darkness and Chaos were not the only ones, but were among the most important ones. Many of the magical families were from Europe and most of them came to America in the last years of the XVIII century. And, among them was the Blackwood family, which was defined as one of the most powerful of the remaining magical families in America. But what captured Robin's attention were neither the origins of that family nor its importance, but the fact that it was considered an evil one. Apparently, since they were living in Europe, the Blackwood family was pretty famous due to the atrocities they performed and the crimes they committed. Torturing and killing innocent people along with wiping out their rival families was a common thing for them; and, according to the book, those manners hadn't changed a bit over the years. In that very instant, Connor entered in the library and saw the two titans shocked while reading the book. Robin tried to hide the chapter they were reading by closing the book, but the wizard was able to see it before they could even think to make their move.

"Considering what I'm seeing I'd bet that you must know my entire family tree right now" – said Connor smiling – "I should kill you for this invasion of my privacy" – added the wizard joking, but Robin quickly prepared himself for battle – "Come on, is not that bad really. It's true that my family has a very bad reputation these days (most of my relatives really deserve it) but it's also true that there are members of the Blackwood dynasty who don't follow its way of living" – concluded the wizard.

"You have a lot of secrets" – said Robin keeping his guard.

"Have you asked yourselves why I am a member of the Order of Darkness while the rest of my family are members of the Order of Chaos?" – asked Blackwood – "I see you haven't reached that part of the biography yet. Well, in that book is written all the information you may want to read about my family and me. You're free to read it anytime you want. There are neither banned nor forbidden books in my library. But right now we have more important things to do. The clock is ticking and the more time Raven spends in that state, the more difficult it will be to break the curse. If you want it, later I'll answer all the questions you may ask" – said Connor grabbing the books the titans were looking for.

Robin studied his options and concluded that he had no choice but to trust the wizard. Connor was the only one who appears to know how to break the curse that wizard had put on Raven; and, leaving her I that state was not an option. A few minutes later, everybody were around the 'crow girl' while Connor was casting a spell. The living soon became dark and a shining light started to emerge both from one of the books Connor had grabbed in the library and from Raven's forehead. In that moment, Blackwood asked Robin to get close and seconds later both guys were suck into Raven's mind and the darkness that was covering the room vanished. The other titans were amazed for what they just see and decided to remain alert waiting for news.

"I really hope they can break that curse" – said Beast Boy.

"Me too. But something tells me that his time it's going to be harder" – said Cyborg worried.

_What kind of dangers wait for Connor and Robin in Nevermore? What will happen with Jessy? Will Jack be able to find the titans whereabouts? Why Terra could control fire back in the Order's base? Will Starfire speak another of her embarrassing speeches? Don't miss the next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** First of all, for those readers who have the opportunity of reading this chapter… I'm sorry, I really am. The time between the last chapter and this one is so big that is ridiculous. I promise I'll try to update sooner from now on. In fact, the Spanish version of this story is completed so I only have to rewrite it in English, which takes me less time than writing from square one.

Well, speaking of this chapter… you could see many things, action, romance, mystery, etc. I really wanted to make the waiting time worthy so I hope you like it. Please R reading your comments (good or bad) is really great for me and that is my main motivation for writing. Ah, I almost forget it… I didn't have much time to check the spelling and all that stuff so if you find any weird thing while reading just let me know it please.

Well, things started to get complicated. Connor and Robin will have a very hard task and let's hope they could fulfill it. Jack must be very angry for what happened in the Order's base and I'm sure he really wants to find Connor and the others. Starfire will continue to push Robin and after that kiss I bet the wonder boy will have even more embarrassing scenes ahead. Suspense, intrigues, action and more romance wait in the next chapter so keep reading and see you in next part.


	8. Back to Nevermore

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 8**

"**Back to Nevermore"**

Three guys suddenly appeared in what seemed to be a long silver road. The landscape was pretty arid but creepy. The sky had a reddish color and apparently the sun didn't exist in that place. Although, it seemed to be illuminated by mysterious forces. Almost immediately, the three people started to check out the zone where they just arrived and very soon they could notice they sky being covered by dense and black clouds, which didn't stop sparking. It was in that moment when one of them dared to speak to the others who didn't expect that coming.

"Wow, those clouds were not here the last time I came; by the way, what am I doing here?" – said Beast Boy confused.

"That's a good question" – added Robin.

"I think you were too close to us and the vortex of the spell pulled you as well" – answered Connor scratching his head.

"Well, since you were too curious to see I hope you enjoy this trip" – pointed Robin smiling.

"By the way, have you noticed other differences in this place?" – asked Connor interested.

"Hmm, let's see… Only the clouds so far… ah, and those weird guys in black who are coming with really bad intentions" – replied Beast Boy.

"What?!" – said the others at the same time.

At least 10 guys wearing black robes were surrounding the three heroes. The enemies were floating instead of standing and powerful electric sparks emerged from them. Their faces, except the red eyes they had, were covered by hoods, which gave them a demoniac look. The wizard and the titans put themselves back to back trying to built a solid defensive formation; although, the demons were getting closer.

"Be careful guys, those things are the 'Assassins', don't move until I say" – pointed Connor.

Suddenly one of the assassins made a movement with his right arm and a red energy beam was shot towards the heroes. Connor put his two arms (stretched and joined) in front of him and a shining light sphere emerged from them. The beam hit the sphere and was successfully absorbed by it. Immediately, the wizard pulled apart his arms and the beam was shot back to the assassins vanishing them.

"Wow, that was better than the videogames that Cyborg and I have" – said Beast Boy laughing.

"What were those things?" – asked Robin.

"The assassins are magical creatures that were created several generations ago to serve the warlocks, sorcerers, wizards and witches; but some families (mine among them) could transformed them step by step and bit by bit until the original creatures became extremely skilled killers" – answered Connor.

"But they don't look that strong" – said Beast Boy.

"These ones were only illusions created buy the primal curse that hit Raven and because of that they are very easy to defeat. Trust me, you don't want to fight or even find a real assassin in the real world. They are smart, clever, cunning and mercy is not one of their known words" – added the wizard.

"And how can they be defeated?" – asked Robin.

"Well, so far I know, they are immune to almost any jinx, spell or curse; so there are only two ways to stop them: using their own attacks against them or using attacks based on the four primary elements: water, fire, earth and air" – replied Connor.

"But we certainly can't do what you just did a moments ago" – said Beast Boy.

"There are many ways to block and repel attacks; you can either use your own energy or use some metal built weapons, their energy can't go through metal" – said Blackwood – "After all, we created those beings so we needed to put them a weakness in order to be able to control them. Otherwise, they could turn against us and we could have ended being destroyed by our own creation" – ended the wizard.

"I understand" – said Robin – "Well, let's get moving. We still have a mission to fulfill"

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Jack was walking around the room looking very upset. He was looking, with real anger, at Dominic and the other warlocks that fought against Connor and the titans. There were too many things in the leader's mind in that moment: first of all, his best men couldn't defeat one wizard and 6 teenagers; secondly, Jessy had escaped without confessing… Suddenly, Jack started to analyze that point, why Connor put his own safety at risk for her?

"Connor is one of the most powerful, skilled and cunning members of the Order; and that along with the fact He was a Blackwood made him a perfect candidate for Master. Now, putting aside what happened back in that cave there are some things that keep eluding me: Why he didn't come to our base to inform about the betrayal? And why he decided to put him at jeopardy to save the girl? Who was protecting Jessy at the cost of her own life?" – asked himself Jack and suddenly all the pieces went right – "Well, well, well, now it all makes sense. So Jessy tried to rob the prophecies for Connor and obviously she warned him to avoid coming here. I assume she somehow could inform him about her state and that's why he came to the rescue. Definitely, Connor is a Blackwood and I'll have to take him seriously from now on. The good thing is that Jessy couldn't take the scrolls so the secret remains safe. I better…"

"Master, I don't have any excuses for our failure and I beg for your mercy. I promise it won't happen again" – said Dominic clearly afraid.

"Being sorry does not solve anything" – said Jack while using his powers to rise and strangle the other without touching him.

"Master… argh… please… I'm sorry… argh, please… I" – said Dominic trying to breath desperately.

The other warlocks were on their knees and quite begging internally for the life of Dominic. After all it wasn't entirely his fault what happened. None of them could believe how Connor and 7 kids had defeated them. Yes, Connor is a very strong opponent in a one to one fight; but they outnumbered the others clearly. Jack had strong reasons to be angry; and, they deserve a great punishment, but yet they hoped Jack to spare Dominic's life.

"I should kill you along with your men considering what happened here. To let those kids entering in our base as they pleased and taking our prisoner away normally is embarrassing, but for us that's a crime. But since you have a flawless record so far I'll spare your life and I'll forgive your group, but yet don't be happy. I want Connor being captured alive and that is going to be your next assignment. I don't care what you have to do, but bring me that guy and for your own sake you better succeed this time" – said Jack easing his grip.

"You can count with that, Master" – said Dominic thankful for the opportunity.

"You bet I'll do… and now get lost. I don't want to see any of you unless you bring Connor before me" – sentenced the Master.

Dominic and the others left the room leaving Garlack and Jack inside.

"Connor is becoming a real pain and I always smash the pains before they become dangerous" – said Jack for himself – "But, the key did come with him, that's disturbing… Garlack!"

"Yes, Master"

"I have a small assignment for you this time. I need to know everything about the Teen Titans. By the end of the day I want to know even the color of their toothbrushes. But above all, I want to know what does the key have to do with them. They seem to know her quite well"

"That won't be an issue, Master"

"I know… Ah, and send Dominic some help if you know what I mean. I don't want any more failures. There are a lot at risk right now"

"Roger"

Garlack left the room quietly, but his mind was boiling with several strategies to fulfill his mission. Jack remained alone in the room for a few seconds trying to organize his thoughts and then disappeared.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

A man was standing relaxed in the roof of one of the highest buildings in Jump City. For almost all the citizens, that one was an important business center, but for the magical world it was the headquarters of the Order of Chaos. It was obvious that they preferred luxury even for its base's cover and it was logical considering that the members of this organization belonged to the most important magical families. They were part of the supernatural aristocracy and they were proud of having their own Jump City's Wall Street where they could control the economic, political and magical powers in town. Obviously, most of the people working in there had no idea of the true purpose of that building.

The man standing in the roof appeared to be 28 years old, he was tall, Caucasian, robust and he had a penetrating pair of black eyes. Her face showed thousands of battles and his expression was cold. After all, he was some kind of god and for beings like him; kindness and courtesy were just filthy human weaknesses. Zarth was still standing in the roof looking the entire city when John found him.

"Have you found the girl?"

"Not yet, but we're getting close. Jack has informed me that…"

"Jack is a pathetic and filthy last class warlock like all the members of that insignificant Order. Letting seven flies breaking in their own base is just ridiculous; but letting them to take away their most important prisoner is just an unforgivable abomination. You must keep in mind that they are just means to an end. Our truce is only temporal. When the time comes I'll take over this city and they will be the first to fall by our hands"

"Roger"

"The key thing is clearly out of their hands so we'll have to act ourselves. It's imperative to neutralize young Blackwood and to capture the key. Only those two can be a trouble later if we let them be. The others are nothing but cockroaches wanting to be squashed"

"I started planning an operation to capture them"

"Lead that yourself. It's time to crush our enemies. Soon we'll be able to conclude what we couldn't do many years ago"

John left the roof to continue preparing the operation while Zarth remained standing in the same position he was before looking the landscape at his feet.

"The time of repaying will come very soon …"

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor, Robin and Beast Boy walked the long silver road, which seemed to be floating in the middle of nowhere and the fact they couldn't see the bottom below it made it creepier. The good thing was that since the little battle against those fake assassins, they had have no more fights, which allow them to cover a big part of the road. None of them had clear their destination yet, though. Then, the green titan said that it had been the same the first time he and Cyborg arrived. It was after some time when one of Raven's emotions appeared to guide them. The three warriors continued their way forward as fast as they could. The wizard knew that any minute passed made the curse stronger and therefore harder to break. Besides, the members of both Orders of Chaos and Darkness were looking for their whereabouts and the mere thinking of being found while being trapped in Nevermore was terrifying from any point of view. Suddenly, they saw a figure ahead, which was getting closer very fast so the three men prepare for battle. Fortunately, they soon realized that the figure was one of Raven's emotions. It was dressed exactly as the witch except by the color of its clothes, which was green instead of blue.

"She is Brave" – informed Beast Boy.

"Hey guys! Ready for some action! I assure you we're going to have some very soon. I'm so excited! I had never fought this much in here" – said Brave smiling happily.

"Eh, Could you please explain to us why exactly this place has become funny?" – asked Connor.

"Wow, the brave and handsome wizard is here. I didn't expect you to come, but I'm glad you did. We're going to really need your help. After being hit by that curse an evil creature suddenly appeared in here. But the worst thing is that it brought some powerful and creepy demons who are watching the surroundings" – said Brave.

"In no time it took over the place with the help of Rage, Resentment and Greed… those traitors. We didn't stand a chance against them all. The emotions that didn't put on its side decided to hide. We didn't want to be prisoners of that thing" – said a yellow Raven, who was wearing glasses, while landing near the group – "By the way, I'm Knowledge… Ah, Connor, that day at the café… you were just brilliant, what a move of yours leaving that note" – concluded her smiling at the wizard.

"We… don't know… what to do right now" – added another Raven who was wearing gray robes – "I… well, I'm Timid… Beast Boy, do you remember when you were explaining us your theory about the radioactive guys from Venus? I'm sorry for yelling you. And, do you remember when you were saying those things about Terra? I'm sorry for yelling you that time too. Robin, I'm sorry for leaving you alone in that embarrassing situation with Starfire back in the Tower. Connor, I'm sorry for trying to read your mind and I'm sorry I didn't trust you when we first met. I now know you're not evil and…"

"It doesn't matter Raven, we all forgive you, right guys?" – cut Beast Boy who was starting to freaking out.

"Sure, sure" – said Connor with several water drops in his head. One thing was to listen about Raven's emotions and another thing was to experience them.

"We have more important things to care about right now" – sentenced Robin.

In that very moment, two more emotions arrived; one of them was wearing orange robes and yawned constantly while being pushed by the other who was wearing pink robes and had constant smile on her face.

"Hi" – said the orange one pretty bored.

"Hello my friends!!! Good to see you!!! I'm Happy and she is Lazy. It's cool to have you here; now you will be able to help us fight that unhappy thing, along with the traitor ones. Now we are even. By the way, Connor your note was really cold, I laughed a lot. In fact, I decided to keep it. It was so good" – said Happy laughing out loud.

"I'm glad you liked it" – replied Connor smiling.

"Ok, too much talking. It's time to take action!" – said Brave.

"Raven was captured by Rage and now they have her locked up in a prison cell nearby. But some of the guards that creature brought here are watching her. Not to mention that Resentment and Greed are there too" – added Knowledge.

"Well, now we know where to go" – said Robin.

"That creature represents the curse itself. If we manage to defeat it and rescue Raven we'll break the curse" – pointed Connor.

"So what are we waiting for?" – asked Beast Boy.

"Follow us, we know a way to get there without being seen" – said Knowledge.

Everybody followed the clever Raven and soon they took off the main road by one of the detours they had seen before. Quickly they saw a wooden door blocking their way and Knowledge made a sigh indicating she was going to open it. The yellow girl tried to look calmed, but it was obvious that she was worried thinking about what had happened to Nevermore. In a matter of hours everything had changed and now a very powerful creature ruled the place. When Rage tried to take control it was kind of an internal battle, but now it was different. That creature didn't belong to Nevermore and it has no right to rule the place or even to be in there. They couldn't allow that…

Once everybody crossed the portal, a huge desert stood in front of them; only sand hills could be seen in any direction they looked and the sun was getting pretty hot in that moment. Brave ask the others to follow her and seconds later the group was walking behind her. The guys were sweating a lot due to the high temperature of the area and a glass of water was becoming mandatory for them. Suddenly a hole appeared below Beast Boy and several tentacles emerged from it and grabbed him. The green titan then started a great fight against those things, which were trying to pull him down through the hole. Luckily, Robin reacted quickly and threw a small knife that cut one of the tentacles while Brave and Connor destroyed other two. Happy took advantage of that and grabbed Beast Boy's arms and flew with him to release him.

"Wow, that was close. What was that thing?" – asked Beast Boy.

"Another creation of that creature, but be careful I don't think it's gone" – answered Knowledge.

In that moment a big explosion took place and two giant worm-like monsters emerged from the ground. Each one had four big tentacles and very sharp teeth. Brave and Connor quickly stood in front of one; the wizard cast a fire jinx, but the monster evaded it and then hit him with one of its tentacles. Brave prepared her moved while the monster was still distracted looking at Connor and then threw it a very powerful energy attack that knocked it out. Then, Happy created an energy sphere, which threw towards the unconscious creature turning it into dust. Beast Boy transformed into a T-Rex and charged against the other monster using all his strength while Robin threw some grenades and both attacks torn down the creature. Lazy who was yawning while watching the fight decided to take action since they needed somebody to finish the job. The emotion rose and, with an energy beam, destroyed the monster remaining.

"Are you alright Connor?" – asked Timid.

"I've been better, trust me; but don't worry, I'll be fine" – answer the wizard standing up – "We better hurry before more creatures appear"

The group resumed their trip still being guided by Brave until they arrived to a closed door located in the ground. The emotion cast a spell and broke the chains that were locking the door and after opening it, Connor and the others could see the same landscape they found when arrived in Nevermore. Afterwards, they were standing on the same silver road they were walking before.

"Can you see those mountains over there" – asked knowledge while pointing a range located near them – "Raven is held captive there"

"Well, let's go!!! Stop wasting time chatting and let's teach a lesson to that creature" – said Brave sparring.

Beast Boy transformed into a Pterodactyl and grabbed Robin while Connor rose along with Brave and the other emotions in order to quickly get to their destination. A few minutes later they were at the top of the range where they could see Raven unconscious in a cell surrounded by fake assassins. Along with the magical killers were Rage, Resentment and Greed and a little bit far was a human like creature, which had bat like wings, and it was holding a big trident. The creature was wearing black clothes and it was giving indications to the others. Considering its movements, it was clear that it knew about the mission to rescue Raven and that it wanted the intruders to be captured as soon as possible.

"Let's go now!" – yelled Brave.

"Calm down. If what I'm thinking is right, the creature is ordering the others to go somewhere. If we wait for the other to leave before attacking it will be easier to rescue Raven" – said Robin.

It didn't take long before several assassins started to leave the prison; Robin and the others decided to hide the best they could to avoid being seen. Once the killers were gone, the leader of the titans gave the signal and the entire group flew at full speed towards the prison. The guards saw the intruders when they arrived and the battle began. Despite the great number of assassins that had left the fortress, the number of guards was important and the battle was extremely tough.

"Connor, try to reach Raven's cell and hurry breaking the spell. We'll cover you the best we can. If we stay like this we're going to be defeated" – said Robin while the wizard used an energy shield to stop the attacks of the assassins.

"You're right" – answered Connor and then he ran towards the cell – "Listen carefully, use the energy of the assassins' attacks against them, that way you'll be able to finish them" – pointed Connor to Knowledge, Timid, Brave, Happy and Lazy by using telepathy.

The emotions nodded and formed a human shield around the wizard. Robin and Beast Boy completed the formation protecting their backs. Suddenly, a bunch of assassins appeared at both sides of the group, but Happy and Timid in one side and Brave and knowledge in the other, quickly created an energy wall to absorb the attacks of the creatures and seconds later those attacks emerged from the wall towards the assassins who were destroyed. Afterwards, the creatures decided to attack the titans and a rain of beams was thrown towards them; then, the boy wonder remembered the words Connor told you before and used his metal staff to repel the attacks destroying some of their enemies. Beast Boy, on his side, transformed indo a Dragon and with a breath of fire vanished the rest of the assassins. Instants later, the group arrived to the fortress but almost immediately Rage, Resentment and Greed were blocking their way.

"You fool intruders! How dare you come here?!!" – yelled a Raven wearing dark red robes.

"So the know-it-all wizard decided to show; I've not forgotten your filthy note and I assure you I'll make you swallow it" – added another Raven, this one wearing brown clothes.

"We own this place now and I'll not allow you change that" – concluded a purple Raven.

"So Rage, Resentment and Greed are here. How exciting" – said Lazy with sarcasm.

"But don't forget who is in charge" – pointed the creature with bat like wings, Connor and the others saw before. Its face was covered by a shadow and two white shining points marked its eyes – "I'm Primal, a shadow warrior and ruler of this world; your presence here is banned and for breaking in you'll be destroyed" – concluded the creature.

"We've come to rescue Raven and we're not leaving here without her" – answered Robin.

"And I think you're overestimating your skills, buddy. Maybe you can slow us down, but nothing will stop me wiping you out here and now" – added Connor smiling.

Everybody had prepared for battle when a very known noise was heard…

"Ah, eh, I'm sorry, I didn't know I was coming here so I didn't eat much today" – said Beast Boy laughing while touching his stomach.

"The things I have to witness…" – said Lazy closing her eyes.

"That was fun" – said Happy smiling.

"Well, well, less talking and more action" – cut Brave while attacking Rage.

The woman in dark red didn't even let the other to get close before hitting her with a strong energy black beam, which sent Brave away. Afterwards, Beast Boy tried to grab Rage by transforming into a Bear, but the emotion was faster than him and flew away of his reach to counterattack with a powerful energy sphere, which knocked out the green titan. Knowledge tried to attack Resentment by surprise, but Greed hit her in the back throwing her to the ground. Robin got close to the yellow Raven to help her and threw several grenades towards the evil emotions that flew to evade the attack. In that moment, Timid attack both Resentment and Greed with energy beams but the two girls evade them easily and flew towards the gray Raven to knock her out; nevertheless, a huge energy explosion hit both Ravens who fell to the ground unconscious.

"Please, don't make me save your asses again... I'm trying to sleep here" – said Lazy.

"Don't worry, we'll keep that in mind" – replied Robin incredulous.

Connor and Primal were fighting each other in the middle air not too far from the others. The creature threw electrical discharges and energy attacks towards the wizard, who evaded or blocked them at will. Suddenly, the creature threw an energy sphere towards the wizard who blocked it by creating a shield, but then Rage appeared behind him and knocked Blackwood out with a strong punch. Connor fell hard to the ground and the dark red Raven prepared to finish him when a grenade hit her and the explosion sent her away. Two more grenades were thrown towards Primal who easily evaded them to fly at full speed towards the leader of the titans, but in that very moment a blaze of fire hit the creature that fell to the ground screaming in pain.

"I'm back" – said Beast Boy adopting his regular shape.

"Thanks pal, I owe you one" – said Robin.

Then, both titans went to see Connor who was trying to stand up with some effort.

"This is our chance, that Primal is unconscious" – pointed Beast Boy.

Connor nodded then disappeared; seconds later, the wizard appeared next to the creature and starting to cast a spell. Then, Blackwood stretched his right arm towards Primal and a white light emerged from his hand wiping out the creature. Afterwards, the assassins and the other creation of Primal disappeared; then, the wizard, along with the titans and the good emotions, started to run towards the cell in which Raven was held captive to release her.

"What happened? Where am I?" – started to say the 'crow girl' while regaining consciousness.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Those warlocks hit you with an ancient curse, but we just break it" – pointed Robin.

"It's glad to have you back! Robin, Beast Boy and the handsome wizard, eh, sorry, Connor came here to help us releasing you" – said Happy making both Raven and Connor blush.

"I'm sorry for making you go through all this" – said Timid.

"It's ok" – said Robin.

"It was a very enlightening experience" – added Knowledge.

"Ok, everything is over, hooray. Can I go sleep now?" – asked Lazy.

"Oh, Come on. Don't be silly. We have to keep training. There are a lot of enemies to be defeated yet" – said Brave sparring.

"Ok, you have just spoken too much already" – cut Raven asking the emotions to get close her.

Finally, all the emotions, except Resentment and Greed, disappeared by merging with the 'crow girl'. Afterwards, a shining light blinded the guys and when it faded Raven appeared wearing white robes.

"Why are you wearing the white suit if you have not merged with Resentment and Greed yet?" – asked Beast Boy remembering that the first time Raven appeared with those robes she had merged with al her emotions except Rage.

"Only when I merged with the three Rage, Greed and Resentment I get the usual robes. If one of them is missing my robes remain white" – asked Raven.

In that moment, and without being noticed before, a figure appeared behind the 'crow girl'.

"I won't allow to be controlled again. This place is mine and I will not give it away" – yelled Rage while throwing a strong energy beam to Raven

None of the heroes could react in time, except Connor who in the last second stood between Raven and Rage receiving the attack fully. The mage coughed up blood and fell to the floor motionless.

"Noooooo!!!!!" – yelled Raven while running towards Blackwood.

The witch couldn't believe what she was seeing; firstly she was perfectly good before breaking in the Order's base; then she saw herself in the middle of a battle for controlling her own mind; and finally, when things appeared to get solved, Rage tried to kill her and she would have succeed if not by Connor who put his own life at risk for her… "He just put his own life at risk for her" those last words kept repeating in her mind while she was holding the wizard's body in her arms. Connor was severely injured and his life was fading away at each second. She couldn't believe that, after all she had said him and all the things that had passed between them; he would still be ready to save her even at the cost of his own life. Several tears came out from her eyes and the 'crow girl' gently let the wizard rest on the ground to face Rage.

"This time you've gone too far… Azarath Mythrion Zynthos" – said Raven and before the other could react, a huge sphere of dark energy hit the emotion knocking her out.

Almost immediately, Raven merged with Rage, Resentment and Greed and her robes turned out the usual blue. The others hadn't had time to react since everything happened extremely fast; however, once Raven regained control of herself, Robin and Beast Boy went to help the wizard who remained motionless. Seconds later, the 'crow girl' joined them very disturbed.

"We have to get out of here" – said Raven lowering her voice.

"You're right, once we are out it's imperative to help Connor recovers. I think his state is very delicate" – said Robin.

Robin and Beast Boy started walking behind Raven who asked stubbornly to take Connor's body; the woman showed no emotions to her friends but several thoughts ran in his mind considering what had happened with the wizard; and, above all, considering why those things had happened. Suddenly a shining light floodlit the place blinding the titans; after some seconds, the light extinguished but when the titans were able to see again they realized that before them was standing another Raven. Her robes were not reflecting one, but every single one color; it was like seeing a rainbow but with motion since the colors didn't stop changing or moving. The witch looked at the emotion very confused and the other returned the look with a kind smile. Afterwards, the new Raven went towards Connor and put one hand in his chest. Another shining light appeared, this one multicolor, and some instants later, the wizard started coughing while regaining consciousness.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. Just let him rest for a while, I think he deserves it" – said the emotion.

"Who are you?" – asked Raven after nodding.

"That answer lies in your heart and you must find it by yourself, not by me" – answered the other while merging with the witch.

Raven felt a strange tingling in her body after merging with the new emotion. Her heart started beating faster and she was getting pretty nervous without knowing exactly why. But, she would have time to meditate about that later, right now the priority was getting out of there. The witch pointed the others, who weren't getting anything at all, to follow her and seconds later they were out of Raven's mind.

"Ok, ok, now please somebody explains me what were the last things happening in there because I didn't understand a bit" – said Beast Boy.

"How were you doing?" – asked Cyborg.

"Did you managed to break the curse?" – inquired Terra.

"Are you all right Raven?" – asked Starfire.

"Yeah, I'm fine" – answered Raven while sitting up.

"That's good news friend Raven!!" – yelled Starfire while hugging the other with big force.

"If you keep hugging me like that I'm going to pass out again" – said Raven.

"Oh, I'm sorry" – said the Tameranian ashamed.

"Hey, What happened to Connor?" – asked Cyborg while seeing the wizard sleeping in one of the couches.

"It's a long story" – said Robin.

"Are you watching us going to somewhere right now?" – asked Terra – "We have plenty of time to hear it"

After a long while, everybody knew what had happened in Nevermore; Robin told the story trying not to miss any detail; Beast Boy related the fights, though. Raven remained silent during all the time.

"You had to watch me kicking those good for nothing assassins' asses. Ha! I taught them a lesson. In the future they won't bother the great Beast Boy because…"

"What happened here?" – asked Connor waking up.

"Don't make any effort. You're sill weak" – pointed Raven while moving next to him.

"Nice to having you back, we were worried" – said Robin.

Some time later, Connor was feeling better and Robin told him the things he had missed after being knocked out; the wizard listened the other silently while trying to put in order his ideas although his head was still dizzying a bit.

"Wow, I can't get asleep, eh? You guys just waited for me to pass out to have real fun. Bad friends, you're so bad friends" – said Connor kidding and the other started to laugh.

The guys started to relax a little since they were extremely tense before so they were joking at each other. However, Raven tried to be apart from that while she was meditating about that last emotion she had seen. The witch put her body against the wall and started seeing Connor trying not to be seen by him.

"If that emotion represents what I'm thinking I'm going to have a lot of troubles in my mind from now on" – thought the woman.

"Hey, by the way, who was that weird you who appeared at the end?" – asked Beast Boy curious.

Raven couldn't avoid getting blushed and she felt happy of being outside their view in that moment so they couldn't see the color of her cheeks. Although, they were waiting for an answer and she didn't know what to say; fortunately, a noise of moans coming from Jessy kept everybody's attention and the witch was saved from responding…

_What represents the new emotion? How many time will pass before Jack finds the titans whereabouts? What has Jessy to say when she awakes? Will Lazy stop yawning some day? Don't miss the next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** Well, well, this chapter is finished and as I promised I'm updating faster than before. I really hope you enjoy while reading it the same way I enjoyed writing it. Before even starting to write this story, this chapter was already in my mind; in fact, this chapter is one of the main reasons of writing this fic so I'm glad of sharing it with you at last.

Jessy is awakening so let's see what she is going to tell, I bet it's going to be very important for our heroes. And speaking of finding whereabouts, I think even the CIA and the FBI are looking for Connor and the others, he, he, he. But, let's hope they can't find them, at least by now. More revelations are coming in the next couple of chapters so be patient and please R&R don't be mean at me, please. Not a single review of the last chapter… I know you're getting back at me for the delay, I know, but please I want to read your reviews… That way, I really know if you're liking the story or not. Well, no more begging so see you in next part.


	9. Revelations

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 9**

"**Revelations"**

Jessy opened her eyes quickly and got a little bit scared by finding herself in an unknown place; but after seeing Connor at her side she calmed down for a few seconds to start crying out loud then. The woman hugged the wizard with force while several tears ran through her face. Blackwood gently hugged her back and started caressing her head trying to calm her down again. The last thing he wanted was she losing control of herself.

"It was horrible, Connor. That Jack is a beast, it was horrible" – said Jessy hugging her friend harder.

"It's over Jessy, please calm down. Everything is fine now. You're safe here" – said the wizard.

Raven was watching the scene along with the other but she couldn't help to feel uncomfortable and even bothered by doing it. In front of her was Connor hugging the other witch and it was very clear that they shared strong feelings for each other; but she couldn't understand why she felt so nervous while seeing them. However, the girl decided to analyze that later and made a big effort to remain calmed, or at least to seem calmed. Soon she would have the time to look for some answers by talking to certain emotion… Finally, the two friends pushed away gently and the rest could see Jessy more calmed. In that moment, Connor started telling her what had happened when they rescued her to give her more time to feel better.

"Thank you very much for helping me guys, I…" – tried to say the girl.

"It was nothing, really. I couldn't let you there. Besides, It was my fault, I'm really sorry for what happened to you" – said the wizard.

"You're wrong, I decided to stay so it is not your fault" – refuted Jessy.

"Well, now it's not the moment for arguing; Jessy I want you to meet some good friends, the Teen Titans. Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, Terra and Raven" – said Connor while pointing each one of the heroes – "And guys, she is Jessy… my best friend, she's like a sister to me" – concluded Blackwood.

"A placer to meet you and thanks again for what you've done for me so far" – said Jessy honestly.

"We did it happily. It's our duty and we are glad to do it" – replied Robin.

Again, the 'crow girl' was confused by her own reactions; the titan could not help to feel relieved when Connor pointed that Jessy was a sister to him. That didn't make sense, why she was feeling angry by watching them hugging each other; and, why she felt relieved when he said she wasn't his girlfriend. By any chance was she… jealous? No, that would be absurd, wouldn't be? After meeting everybody, Jessy started telling her tale. She told the other abut her quest for the parchments and then how Garlack had captured her; the witched decided to skip the torture room part since she really wanted to forget those moments and luckily none of the guys went to that subject.

"It's really unlucky that Jack had taken the scrolls; that would do everything more difficult. But, it doesn't matter; you're fine and safe and that's the important thing now. We'll see later how to get those parchments" – said Connor.

"In fact, Jack only took one of the copies" – said Jessy smiling – "But it needs more than a Master to beat my wisdom" – added the girl and then she stretched her right arm and started to cast a spell.

Suddenly, a light emerged from her right hand and some scrolls appeared floating in front of her. Connor couldn't believe what he was seeing; before he, were floating the original prophecies. Obviously, that represented a huge advantage for them; otherwise it would have been mandatory going back to the Order's base. Without those parchments they were blind to fight the Jack and the others, which was something they couldn't afford. However, by having the prophecies, they had a real chance to win the battle. Connor immediately took the scrolls and pointed Beast Boy to grab one of the tables nearby to open them. The wizard was really excited; he had never had the opportunity to read them. Once the tables were in place, Blackwood opened one of the parchments and started to read it silently. The others were very anxious waiting for the wizard to speak; nevertheless, after a while, Connor closed the scroll looking disappointed. It was obvious that the thing he was looking for was not in it. Afterwards, he took another parchment, but he closed it again just like before and the scene repeat a couple of times more. The tension could be cut with a knife in the living and everybody was sweating when Connor opened the last set of scrolls. Luckily for them, this time Connor's face showed satisfaction and triumph, which was a good sign.

"Great, this is what I was looking for, but it would be better if we all read it" – said Connor.

"Don't worry, after you read it just pass it" – said Beast Boy.

"I think it would be better to read it loudly" – said Raven with her characteristic monotone voice (she was more confident actually)

"I have a better idea" – said Jessy.

"You're too weak to use that spell" – objected Connor.

"That's crap. I'm not going to die for doing it. Besides, it's the best way for studying a parchment. And this time many things depend on its content" – replied the witch.

Connor nodded and gave her the set of scrolls, then Jessy started casting a spells. Suddenly a light emerged from the documents and it formed some kind of TV screen in the middle of the living.

"I should create a franchise for this. I'm sure I'll earn a lot of money" – said Jessy joking – "Well guys, watch the screen carefully because the content of this set of 5 parchments is going to be shown in it"

Everybody sit in front of the screen and almost immediately they could see a scene being played…

**Scene Played in the Screen**

A blond man, robust, with short hair, blue eyes and calmed expression was packing his clothes desperately. Along with him was a blond woman with long hair and blue eyes; she resembled Terra a lot, but of course, this woman was older.

"Tara there's no time to waste, just grab the essentials and let's get out of here as soon as possible; those guys will arrive here at any minute" – said the man clearly excited.

"I just took Terra's clothes, I'll leave everything else" – answer the woman.

In that moment, the woman hold a little baby in her arms, the little girl was less than two years old, she was also blond and a very beautiful blue eyes made her face very pretty. But in the same instant the woman grabbed the baby a big explosion shook the house.

"Damn it!! They're already here" – said the man gravely – "Tara, get out of here. Those guys will kill us with no mercy; their greed has blinded them completely"

"Let's run together, what are you going to do?"

"If we all get out now, we'll just become a perfect target for them and I can't allow them to harm you or my daughter" – answered the man while another explosion shook the place.

"But…"

"No buts my dear… There's no other way, Tara. I'll face them giving you time to run away. Don't let me down honey and remember that nobody but us knows about Terra and for your own sake and hers it must remain that way. At least, until she is old enough age to understand everything"

"You're talking like we're not going to see each other again Andrew"

"I'm talking fearing the worst yes; but I won't let them kill me, I'm going to teach those cowards a lesson"

"Please, don't leave us alone. Terra and I need you. Please don't abandon us"

"Don't worry" – said the man while hugging her wife to kiss her little baby after – "Go to the basement and use the tunnel I built. Keep running until you get to the shelter. I'll meet you there after I finish my job here"

"Ok" – said the woman while going down by the stairs – "I trust you Andrew" – concluded her disappearing from his sight.

The man waited to hear the sound of the door closing to be sure that his two loves were safe then he came out of the house.

"Well, well, so after all you're not that coward to face us" – said one of the four guys that were waiting for him.

"It was fool to run away, the power you have is too great for you. That power belongs to someone with to guts to use it" – said other of the guys.

"It's a complete waste that someone like you have that power. You barely use it" – added the third guy.

"But don't worry, after killing you and taking your energy we'll promise to use it in a proper way" – said the last one.

"I never thought that your greed will corrupt you at this point, I feel sorry for you. You don't deserve to be members of the Order of Darkness" – said Andrew.

"You are the one who don't deserve that honor, you filthy coward. Do you feel sorry for us? – asked the leader of the group – "You should be sorry, no, you should be terrified for what we are about to do with you"

A vicious battle then started in that moment, the leader of the group threw a rain of arrows to Andrew who created an air tornado to block it. Afterwards, other of the evil warlocks appeared behind the blond man and tried to hit him with an energy attack; however, Terra's father created a fire shield to repel it. Then, two energy beams were thrown towards Andrew who made a stone wall to rise to block them; immediately, the warlocks decided to use another strategy so they surrounded the wizard who didn't stop spinning slowly to watch his enemies. Some tense seconds passed and then the leader of the group gave the others a sign and the four warlocks attacked at the same time. Terra's father immediately made several rocks to rise from the ground and threw them to his attacker; three of them were badly hit and fell to the ground, but their boss could evade the counterattack and threw another rain of arrows that was stopped by a wall of fire. Then, Andrew created another tornado that grabbed the warlock knocking him out.

"Get lost while you can" – said Andrew trying to avoid killing them.

The warlocks said nothing, but it was obvious that they were too injured to keep fighting and it was also clear that they didn't stand a chance against Terra's father so they started to run silently. Andrew sighed released by seeing that maybe they had still some reason in their minds and decided to go back to the house. However, what the wizard didn't realize was that after he entered the house, the warlocks changed their course to perform a surprise and coward attack. Andrew was finishing packing since he thought he had more time to do it and didn't notice the moment when his enemies joined forces to create a huge energy sphere that hit the house wiping everything out. Suddenly, the place where the house was standing showed a big crater; although Andrews' death was confirmed when the warlocks saw a big mass of shining energy floating in front of them.

"The power of the elements"

"It will be our at last"

"We're going to be the most powerful warlocks in the world"

The four men got closed to the mass and started to cast an ancient spell to absorb the energy; nevertheless, soon they noticed something was wrong and when they tried to run, the mass exploded killing instantly Andrew's murderers.

**End of the Scene Played in the Screen**

Everybody was astonished after watching the scene. Robin was repeating every detail in his mind trying to find a logical explanation to what they had watched. Cyborg tried to look Terra without being noticed to see her reaction. Starfire couldn't believe a thing and she even thought it was some kind of weird joke of the wizards. Raven was analyzing consciously the facts and all the possibilities that opened if what they had watched was true; after all, now she was not the only one with an intriguing past. But the most disturbed of the titans was Beast Boy, he didn't know what to do or say and he was very worried about Terra. So gently walked towards her and in that very moment, the blond girl jumped into his arms, buried her head in his chest and started crying. She felt that life didn't stop hitting her again and again; first when she thought Beast Boy had betrayed her, then all the thing Slade made her do, then the statue thing and now this (not to mention being grown with no family) To watch her father being cowardly murdered by those warlocks was extremely painful and yet she couldn't forget the other things that scene implied. For the first time in her life she could see her parents, now she knew they both had always loved her, now she knew he was a wizard and that he could control the elements, but also she knew about his sacrifice... Terra didn't know if feeling proud, sad or both; nevertheless, there was something missing in the scene and that gives her hope. It was then when she decided to speak.

"Is there any info about what happened to my mother in those scrolls?" – asked Terra calmly.

Connor quickly read the rest of the document and after finding the answer started his reply.

"According to what I read, your mother found out about your father's death and got very afraid for your sake. She didn't know the warlocks had been destroyed so she feared they would come after you at any moment. That's why she decided to give you in adoption; that way, nobody could relate you with her or Andrew. And this is the end of the writing" – said Connor who got shocked after reading the signature "Well, there's something more... eh, apparently, this document was written... by your mother, Terra"

Again, everybody went silent. It was amazing what they had discovered in such a short time. Words stuck in their mouths like they were jammed to their tongues. And again, it was the blond girl who broke the silence.

"I don't understand. How could my mother take that scroll to the Order's base when she believed some members of it were chasing her?"

"I honestly don't know Terra. This is not making any sense for me either. What I know for sure is that this document is not part of the original prophecies. I don't know what they put it with the other parchments. The original prophecies were written before the Order's creation, which was several centuries ago; and this last document was written no more than fifteen years ago... wait a second... I think I'm beginning to understand all of this, but I need to be sure" – said the wizard – "Before answering your question I think it will be useful to watch the real prophecies, I need to confirm a theory"

The blond girl nodded and immediately Jessy cast the same spell than before, but this time with the proper scrolls.

**Original Prophecies' Scene**

A thick wood was the set for a vicious battle between a mystery guy who was wearing ninja clothes and Zarth. The unknown warrior had his face covered by a ninja hood and it was clear that he could control the elements. In fact, he was using, tornado attacks, blazes of fire, walls of water and floating stones to fight the other. The battle was even at the beginning, but bit-by-bit, Zarth was loosing control. Evidently, the elements were a clear weakness of him who couldn't counterattack properly. Then, the ninja warrior saw an opening in Zarth's defense and threw a very powerful attack, which combined the four elements energy. Zarth tried to block it but he didn't succeed and he couldn't help to be wipe out after receiving the impact. Afterwards, the mystery warrior sighed relieved and decided to take off the hood, showing his face, which was a perfect copy of Connor's

**End of the Original Prophecies' Scene**

Definitely, somebody had labeled that day as the day for the shocking surprises. If the revelation about Terra had astonished the group what they had just watched froze them. Now it was obvious that there was some kind of bond between both scenes, and both main characters too, but the exact nature of that link was still a mystery. Besides, that warrior was a perfect reflection of Connor and that picture got burned in the witnesses' minds, including Jessy's. However, the wizard was the one who broke the silence this time.

"Well, this confirms my theory, but not exactly as I expected" – started the wizard a little bit astonished – "I don't know how the first set of parchments we watched came to the Order's files, but I think that at the beginning it was not aside the original prophecies. I'm pretty sure that your mother succeeded in her mission and therefore nobody knew about you, Terra. But, then, you did something pretty unique. Back in that cave, when you saved your friends you used such a big amount of power, such a big amount of energy that the Masters could feel it and that set on all the alarms. Remember what we watched, Zarth can only be defeated by the power of the elements; the same power your father had, the same power you now have. If they were planning to bring him back already they should have feared that you could become dangerous; so they started looking for you and eventually the found you in that very cave. Nevertheless, for them, you being locked up in a stone statue was not enough; you should be destroyed, wiped out to extinguish your power. Maybe in the meantime they found the parchment wrote by your mother and realized how important it was so I think Jack put the document along with the original prophecies in order to give it the restricted access level. That way, the secret remained safe" – concluded the wizard.

"Well, now we know why you ca control fire" – said Robin.

"See? You see? I was right and Terra INDEED is part of a prophecy. Ha, ha, HA! Who are shutting out now? Who is the king? Take that!!" – said Beast Boy.

"The silly fool was once right, how exciting" – mocked Raven with sarcasm.

"And why you look just like that mystery warrior? Why does it mean?" – asked Robin.

"I have to possible explanations for that; either that guy is an ancestor of Connor or Connor is a reincarnation of him. I don't give much for the second theory, though" – said Jessy.

"I don't know, both theories seem good enough for me and both explain that I don't remember anything of that battle. Besides if I really am a descendant of him, it's logical that my family hid it since they are supporting Zarth" – said Connor – "It's weird, but that makes Terra and me relatives; however, there's something tricky… If I indeed have a bond with that guy I should be able to control the elements and I can assure you that I can't. I can cast fire jinxes or spells but controlling fire or earth at will like Terra have done is beyond my skills"

"I think I can explain that too my dear friend" – said Jessy while watching the others who were incredulous looking at her – "In case Connor hasn't told you, I'm, well was, the librarian of the Order and you have no idea of the amount of documents, scrolls, parchments and similar that I have read during all these years. I have investigated about prophecies, reincarnations and things you think don't exist so I have some experience in the matter we're talking… Now, back with my idea, I've read about some rare cases where more than one different line of descendants emerged from the same ancestor. And, in those cases, the power splits among the branches; that would explain why Terra's family inherited the power of the elements and why the Blackwoods are wizards, and very powerful ones indeed" – concluded the woman.

"I think Jessy is right; back in Azarath I heard of similar cases and the explanations were the same; in fact, the guys who killed Andrew couldn't control his power and were destroyed by it, which indicates that you must have blood ties to control it" – added Raven.

Terra listened carefully all the explanations given by the others and analyzed all the implications while feeling joy in her heart. It was true that watching her father being killed was very painful; but, for the first time in her life, the thought of her parents abandoning her like trash had disappeared. Now she was sure that her parents had cared a lot about her. His father even gave his life to protect her; and her mother gave her in adoption to save her. Besides, something was tingling the stomach of the blond girl; her mother could be alive somewhere. That possibility was responsible of her heart being filled with hope and joy despite the situation in which she was… Nevertheless, in that very moment, Terra realized something that made her feels desperate. If those prophecies were true, it was obvious that those warlocks were after her because she was the only one capable of defeating Zarth. But she barely controlled the earth. How would she be able to control the other elements?

"Connor, you have to know that I don't control the power of the elements like my father and the other warrior did. I barely can control the earth in a decent way right now" – said Terra.

"But back in the Order's base you used a very powerful fire attack" – said Beast Boy trying to encourage her.

"I know, but I have no idea of how I did that... If I'd fight that Zarth right now I'm pretty sure that I'd end up dead" – added the blond girl.

"Well, in that case, I think it's time for this little cousin of yours to teach you a couple of things, do you agree?" – asked Connor.

"Would you really do that for me?"

"Yes, but don't get so happy yet. I'm very tough as a sensei. You're going to suffer like hell and I'm pretty sure you're going to beg for me to stop many times. But, if you commit yourself to train hard I guarantee that you're going to develop all your potential" – said the wizard smiling.

"You bet on that! I'll be the best trainee you've ever had!" – said Terra saluting like an officer and carefully avoiding using the word apprentice – "Guys, my mother is alive, do you know what that means? She's out there and I've got to find her, I owe her. She has sacrificed a lot for me" – added happily – "But first I want to control the power of the elements properly. I don't want my father's death to be in vain. He died to give me a chance to live, chance I almost lose for joining Slade ending trapped inside that statue... But it's different now, I'll train hard... my father will be proud of me wherever he is" – concluded with determination.

"That's the spirit little cousin!" – said Connor kindly – "Well guys, we still have a lot to do and time is not an ally right now. I think we better take a rest and have some good sleep we deserve it. Tomorrow will be the first of very long and hard days to come"

The others nodded and soon they were walking towards their rooms; each one of them with their own ideas and thoughts, but yet with new energies and hopes since now they knew a way to defeat Zarth. Cyborg was trying to put order in his ideas to understand everything properly; Robin and Starfire were discussing theories of how to fight Zarth and the others considering the new facts they now knew. Connor walked Jessy to her room since she was feeling very weak; while Raven decided to meditate, she had a lot of things to analyze and finally she had a moment to do it. Beast Boy went with Terra to her dormitory and waited for her to go inside before going to his own bedroom; but before going inside a question came out from her mouth.

"Will you help me to find my mother?" – asked Terra.

"Of course! You can count on that. We'll always be together Terra for the good and the bad times, ok? Don't even think for an instant that I'll leave you alone, and much less now. When this fight is over we'll start looking for her and I'm sure the others will help us" – replied Beast Boy.

"Thanks, you don't know what that means to me"

"You're not alone, you're part of our team. You have always been. We're going to be at your side, ok? We'll always support you"

"You're right and I will train hard, you'll see. Connor is the one who will ask for mercy..." – said Terra smiling again.

"I hope you kick his butt" – answer the green titan laughing.

"You can count on that"

Beast Boy took her chin with his hand and gently kissed her lips. Both titans closed their eyes to feel it better and they wanted to stop time for making that moment endless. When the kiss ended, they both were smiling at each other while their cheeks showed a deep red color. Then the green titan walked to his room and Terra followed him with her eyes until he went inside. Afterwards she went to be with one thought on his mind.

"This time I won't fail. This is my chance to make things right and I won't waste it" – she told herself before getting asleep.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor walked Jessy to her bedroom and for the first time he didn't realize that Raven was following them closely. Although, that corridor was the only way for the 'grow girl' getting to her room. So she had to follow them whether she likes it or not. The wizard helped Jessy to lie down in the bed and after saying goodbye he left her room finding Raven in front of him.

"Thanks for what you did back in Nevermore, thanks for saving me. I'm sorry I didn't say it before, but I hadn't the chance" – said the woman sincerely.

"It was nothing, really. It's me who has to thank you for healing me, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now" – said the wizard smiling.

"I..." – said both in unison.

When their glances met, their cheeks turned red. It was clear that there was more than gratitude or friendship between them; although none of them dared to step forward or say something related to that matter.

"By the way, since you're, well, you're a witch, aren't you? So I was wondering if maybe you... well, you and I..." – tried to say Connor.

"Do you want me to spar with you?" – asked Raven.

"That's it! Well, I noticed that you have great dark power and awesome skills and well, I'd like to... well I guess you already have a partner for training, but, if by any chance you want..."

"I'd love to" – answer the witch walking towards her bedroom – "By the way, you better improve your skills for asking a girl out. This time I helped you, but don't get use to it" – concluded Raven in her monotone voice while laughing in silence.

After entering in the bedroom Raven realized something important. Since she was rescued back in Nevermore more than once her emotions had showed out and nothing weird happened. She had suppressed them almost immediately of course, but it was still rare that not even a little blow shook the place. Definitely she had to meditate as soon as possible... she had several questions in her mind and a long chat pending with certain emotion in a multicolor suit.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor waited for Raven closing the door of her bedroom before going inside his dormitory; the wizard sat in the bed trying to assimilate what had happened between he and Raven. He had barely formed a coherent sentence while trying to ask her if she wanted to spar with him. Would it be possible that he actually was starting to have feelings for her? He wasn't sure yet. At the beginning he thought that saving her from Rage's attack had been pure instinct, just a reflex; but now he didn't have that clear. However, what he indeed had decided was to find out, no matter how, exactly what was the nature of those feelings, if they really existed.

"Let's see if tomorrow I can find the answer I'm looking for" – said Connor to himself before trying to sleep.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Raven closed the door of her dormitory and afterwards she took out a strange mirror from her robes. Luckily she had it with her everywhere she went; otherwise it would have been harder to do what she was up to. The young girl turned out the lights and after sitting in the bed, in a comfortable position for her, began to meditate.

"Azarath Mythrion Zynthos. Azarath Mythrion Zynthos"

Raven took the mirror with the right hand and put it in front of her while casting the spell. The words were repeated with more and more intensity and suddenly, the girl was standing inside her mind and one of her emotions were just in front of her.

"I know you wanted to talk with me so I'm saving you time. Now you don't have to look for me" – said the emotion in a multicolor suit.

"Who are you?"

"You don't have an idea? You know who I am, but I think you're not willing to accept it yet"

"I'm more willing to accept it than you may think; but before I need some answers and I need them to be clear"

"Ok, ok, if you insist. My name is Love"

Raven took some minutes to assimilate that; she was suspicious that it was going to be the answer, but yet she expected, or hoped, to be wrong at the end. It was already very difficult for her to suppress her emotions without having such a guest in Nevermore. Nevertheless, now she was sure about what was happening inside her mind and everything started to make sense.

"Why your robes are multicolor?"

"Because I represent all the emotions the same way my robes reflect all the colors. Love can make you feel Happy, Timid, Lazy, Smart, Brave when everything is ok; but it obviously can make you feel Resentful, Enraged or Greedy if you're suffering"

"Why I didn't lost control of my powers those times when my emotions showed up after being rescued"

"Well, I see you're asking the right questions and I'm glad for that... Let's see, you didn't have a true balance in here" – said Love using the index finger of her right hand to pointing her head – "And that was because your emotions were immersed in an endless battle for having total control for your mind. That forced you to constantly suppress them to be able to use your powers. Now, well, things have changed because I could bring some peace to this place and there are no more battles to control Nevermore"

"And how could you achieved that?"

"Easy, I'm in total control of Nevermore. Even Rage accepted me as her leader"

"You are what? And Rage did what?" – asked Raven astonished.

"Well, it was hard to make the other emotions accept me as their leader. Rage was the more difficult to convince... But don't underestimate the power of Love... I can be very persuasive" – said the emotion grinning.

"I think I can imagine that" – said Raven smiling.

"You have no answer yet why I appeared in the first place. Don't you want to know?"

"I know the answer to that question"

"This is going to be the beginning of a great friendship" – said Love extending her hand towards Raven.

The emotion wait for the other to shake hands, but the witch gave her a big hug instead. Love knew that Raven wanted to talk with her before making a decision. The witch was wondering if suppress her or not and Love was happy that the 'crow girl' decided not to do it.

"I assure you that you're not going to regret this"

"I hope so. I don't want anything to get wrong, much less now with many things at risk... and I really don't know if he..."

"Oh, come on, don't be silly. He has a HUGE crush on you. Didn't you notice that when he tried to ask you out? He was stuttering. I felt sorry for him" – said Love laughing at loud.

"Don't be mean with him. He was a little nervous, that's all"

"A little nervous? I was afraid of him suffering a heart attack"

"That's why you made me help him, right?"

"Right. You must admit that he needed it. Besides you really wanted to have this chat with me; and if we had waited him to ask you out properly I think we were still standing in the corridor" – answer Love kindly.

"Thanks"

"It was nothing. We both have many things to discover and I'm pretty sure that in time you'll be able to improve the way you use your powers. By the way, the white robes are prettier than the blue ones so don't worry, after having a little chat with our friend Rage your clothes will rule"

"Don't be rude with her, after all, she's a part of me"

"Indeed, but she needs to keep in mind who is the ruler in here now" – replied Love kidding – "I hope we can talk again soon, sweet dreams"

Love waved Raven goodbye and flew to look for some girl in dark red they both knew. Afterwards, Raven was again in her dormitory but instead of going to be she decided to walk towards the window. The witch opened it and started breathing the air; she needed that, she needed to breath pure air. A big full moon could be seen high in a starry sky and the young girl looked the landscape while her lips formed a big smile. Definitely, what she had read in some romantic novels was nothing in comparison of living that moment.... The witch had learned something for sure, there was nothing like being in love.

_How is going to be Terra's training? Could the blond girl control the power of the elements? Will Raven wear the white suit again? Will Connor improve his skills to ask a girl out? Don't miss the next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** Well this chapter is finished. I know it was mainly about prophecies, theories and explanations; but it was time to reveal some secrets. I hope you now have a clearer idea of what is happening…

Well, now we know what is the mission of Terra and why the warlocks are chasing her. Let's see if her 'cousin' can help her. We also saw a little bit about Connor and Raven relationship and also about Beast Boy and Terra (RobinxStarfire fans… be patient) this was a transition chapter and the fic is entering in the final stage so stay tuned and see you in next part.


	10. Nightmares?

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 10**

"**Nightmares?"**

The titans lied in the ground badly hurt after a vicious battle; they were coughing blood and had several wounds all over their bodies. Even Connor was knelt accusing the hits received... only one person was standing. A blond girl with blue eyes was still fighting Zarth. But she was having a hard time trying to defeat the other; even the power of the elements was not match for him.

"You don't even control your powers in a decent way. How could you think that having that pathetic level you would be able to beat me?" – said Zarth appearing behind Terra to hit her in her back making Terra falls to the ground. Afterwards, he landed beside the titan – "It's a shame that the chosen one to fight me this time was a second class warrior. You're too weak to handle the energy you have inside. I really expected a battle worthy of my skills but you're too mediocre for giving me that" – sentenced Zarth while throwing a powerful energy attack towards the blond girl who couldn't block it and was sent several meters away.

Terra was bleeding to death and the girl felt her life going away while her strength kept fading; but yet she couldn't give up. It was no the time for surrendering. What would her father say by watching her doing that? He and her mother had sacrificed a lot to give her a chance to live and she was about to waste it again for being weak. And worst, the world was going to be endlessly ruled by Zarth who would only bring pain and misery to people.

"You're reckless and immature. You should have stayed inside that statue or let being destroyed by my men to save us time; but don't worry, I'm going to solve that right away"

Zarth created a huge energy sphere and threw it towards the titan who tried in vain to block it. The attack was just too strong for her and Terra was hopeless wiped out...

A loud scream was heard in Connor's house... Terra was sweating a lot and was looking in every direction desperately to be sure that everything had been a nightmare and nothing more; seconds later somebody was knocking on her door...

"Terra, are you ok? I heard you screaming" – said Beast Boy.

"I'm fine, well I think so... it was just a nightmare" – said Terra opening her door – "Don't worry, ok? In a moment I'll be in the dining to have breakfast"

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, it was nothing"

"Ok, but you better come fast to the dining, otherwise I'll be coming here again"

"All right, all right, at least let me get dressed, ok? I'm not going there wearing my pajamas, jeez" – ended Terra closing her door.

Beast Boy hadn't realized that Terra was not wearing her titan uniform but a two-piece pink pajama that she didn't want to show more than necessary.

"Sure, sure, you get dressed and meet me in the dining" – answered Beast Boy blushed while walking towards the kitchen.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Raven had awaken earlier that day and was meditating, although the expression of her face was no the usual icy expressionless one, but a grin. It was like she was making fun of somebody and that was very close to the truth. The witch was in Nevermore watching how Love looked herself in the mirror while changing her robes from blue to white.

"Now I've seen everything..." – said Raving faking to be bored.

"I just can't believe you like the blue most... it's horrible, not to mention it's not fashion... I'm sure Connor doesn't like it" – said Love resolute.

"Well, I haven't heard him complaining so far and fashion means nothing to me" – replied Raven flatly.

"And you have never had a boyfriend... coincidence?" – cut Love.

Raven couldn't avoid to get blushed after hearing the counterattack of the other, but quickly regained control of herself.

"I couldn't let my emotions to show, that meant loosing control of my powers"

"Right, and after the battle against Trigon, where you defeated him, you began to be the definition of joy... How could I forget that?" – said Love with sarcasm.

"Well, let's say I like the way I am. Besides, Rage is still in here, she is a part of me; the difference is that now she is a manifestation of myself instead of him"

"That's crap. The difference is that I wasn't here. What was that about you staring at the starry sky with a wide smile?" – said Love making Raven blushes again – "Aha! You admit it, don't you? You really like to show your emotions and that is not a bad thing... and speaking about bad things, that blue suit..."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. Do I need to remind you who is the boss? Well, it's me and I say that the blue suit stays. Besides, why am I having this conversation with you in the first place?" – said Raven firmly – "Meditation is over" – added while leaving.

"Don't run! That suit is from the XIX century; you remind the Spanish Inquisition wearing that! We really want a boyfriend! Don't make Connor run away!" – yelled Love angrily.

Raven was watching carefully her reflection on the mirror of her bedroom. The girl was changing between her white and blue robes like performing a quality control on her clothes. After a while, the witch still remained thinking in the middle of the room analyzing the pros and cons of her decision. Finally she decided to keep her white suit and left the dormitory.

"Well, I have nothing to lose. Besides, it will hurt nobody. But if he does not like it, some emotion will suffer hell in here" – said Raven while pointing his head with the index finger of her right hand.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Almost all the titans were in the dining waiting for the meal to have breakfast; the wizard had awaken earlier to cook for them; after all, he was the host and despite the situation, he wanted to be a good one. Terra was sat beside Beast Boy watching the green titan while he jumped excited by the smell of the dishes. The blond girl tried to remain calmed but the scene of her nightmare didn't go away. Cyborg was also sat beside Garfield holding a knife and a fork; the titan was ready for eating at will the pancakes, the smell was just too good and the half human half robot was starting to get impatient. Robin and Starfire were in front of the first two; the leader of the titans was smiling; they hadn't had a proper meal since that one prepared by the wizard back in the tower. Nobody doubted about Connor's skills for cooking and they also could have breakfast together so they were enjoying the moment.

The red-haired was very happy seeing the others being joyful; since they had witnessed Zarth invocation that was the first time the whole group, including Connor and Jessy, could have meal together like a family. Jessy was beside the Tameranian and her face showed that she was almost full recovered from her wounds. In fact, the witched wanted to help Connor, but the wizard refused saying that she still needed to rest to fully recover and that he could cook alone with no problems. Suddenly some steps were heard and the guys knew that Raven was about to show since she was the only missing.

"Nice and easy, don't make any comment about your suit, just act casual" – thought the witch when she get to the dining – "Hi guys" – said Raven with a little smile.

The titans were astonished after seeing the 'crow girl'; they thought that she had decided to keep wearing the blue robes, but now, she was in front of them, wearing that white suit that greatly intimidate one of the titans.

"Ok, ok, now this is weird" – said Beast Boy while standing up to check out carefully Raven's robes – "What happened to that speech of blue being your favorite color?" – asked the green titan.

"I guess that after that 'funny' comment I should laugh, right? Well, ha, ha. I hope you're happy now" – mocked Raven with sarcasm – "Blue indeed is my favorite color, but I don't remember me saying I don't like white"

Connor whirled around to serve the dishes and got frozen while watching Raven with her white suit; the wizard had to perform extremely complex movements to avoid the pancakes falling while trying to keep his composure. His cheeks hopeless turned red, though.

"You look gorgeous" – said Blackwood before noticing that the rest of the group was watching him.

Now it was Raven's turn to get blushed and even for Jessy, who only had a few hours awaken, it was quite clear that they had feelings for each other. Only one person was looking at them very curious and without understanding what was happening.

"Why do they get blush while seeing each other? Are they boyfriend and girlfriend too? We are boyfriend and girlfriend and got blushed when seeing each other, right?" – said Starfire to Robin who almost choked with his drink by the impression.

Now was Robin's turn to get speechless, all the gazes turned to him and he started praying for that moment to end quickly; however, seconds passed and the gazes were still at him. Fortunately, Jessy broke the uncomfortable situation for the boy wonder...

"This is not fair, I missed all the romantic action here; no, it is definitely not fair. Next time we find a bunch of heroes, you stay at the library and I'll go help them, got it?" – said Jessy to Connor faking to be angry.

Everybody started laughing out loud and suddenly for some instants the dangers, the worries and of course the embarrassing situations were forgotten. Afterwards, the wizard served the dishes and the group started to enjoy their breakfast. That day was going to be tough and it was important to have a nice meal before starting the training.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Connor was inside a wide room of his house; the others were still eating like nuts, but he was already full so he decided to rest a little. There were a lot of things to do and he wanted to be relaxed before starting. The wizard was playing some chords in his acoustic guitar while trying to put his mind blank; music had always been a good influence for him since it helped him to move away from the world, at least for a while. Suddenly, a flat voice brought him back to reality.

"May I come in? We agreed to spar together in case you have forgotten" – said Raven.

"Sure, sure. I didn't want to interrupt your meal that's why I didn't ask you to come"

"I see... the song you were playing... it was nice" – added the witch.

"Thanks, but I was playing nothing in particular, just some chords. My parents always listened classic songs, Beethoven, Back, Mozart, when I was a kid so I started to like music since then I guess. Now it is almost mandatory for me playing the guitar for meditation or relaxing purposes" – said the wizard with sadness in his voice.

"Do you miss them, don't you?" – said the witch starting her meditation.

Connor didn't know why, but in that moment he decided to open and tell Raven his miseries and his deepest pains. He told her how for several generations her family had mastered the dark arts and how almost all its members were dark wizards or witches. He told her how his parents tried to force him to join the Order of Chaos to follow the family's legacy. He also told her how he was thrown out of his own house due to his 'revolutionary' behavior by not following the Blackwood's path of killings and search of power. The wizard didn't hide the time he remained wandering in the streets until he found the Order of Darkness where he could finally feel like having a home again… The girl listened in silence and many thoughts and emotions filled her body; Raven really wanted to hug him when she saw tears on his face, but yet she decided to do nothing, at least for the moment.

"I'm sorry for mistrusting you before" – said Raven sincerely.

"Don't be. As I said before, I didn't behave like the best ally and I admit you had good reasons to mistrust"

"Well you have told me your biography without being asked… so it's fair that I tell you mine…" – pointed Raven.

Connor tried to tell her that it wasn't necessary since his intentions weren't trading biographies, but the young girl started her tale. Raven told him all the circumstances of her birth and childhood, what was the true nature of her powers and why she had to suppress her emotions. Then she told him briefly how Malchior had deceived her to gain power and finally she told him about the battle against her father where the world was almost destroyed. But, in that instant she realized something and a question formed in her mind.

"Why didn't you appear then? We have fought a lot of enemies and I understand that your help wasn't needed, but that time was different. The fate of the whole world was at risk. Trigon and Slade really wanted to rule the Earth" – said Raven.

"We knew that you would prevail in the end. If you read carefully the prophecies you'll find a tale, which I didn't show you yesterday, about a battle between the father and the daughter for the control of the world"

"But, how could you know that if you hadn't read the prophecies before?

"Jack read that to us when that monster appeared. We weren't affected by his power since our magic is also dark, so many of us wanted to fight him. That made Jack reveal one of the secrets of the prophecies in order to keep us calmed and hid waiting for your victory without interfering" – answered Connor – "I told you once that all the Zarth stuff was non of your business; well, in that moment, it was the other way. The Trigon issue was none of our business. I know that was not the best behavior and I didn't agree to remain sat doing nothing while you were fighting for the future of mankind. However, the Order was my home and I had sworn loyalty to it and its directives and I've always kept my word. Even now I'm fighting to avoid Jack using the organization for his selfish purposes. Although, since I met you I've learnt that some times the directives shouldn't be followed. You just can abandon a friend when is suffering" – concluded the wizard remembering how he had broken the rules of the Order to rescue Jessy.

Raven was about to say something, but the sad expression on his face stopped her. Her heart started beating real fast and many emotions were struggling to show up; but the witch fought back to control them, although the meditation wasn't working properly. Finally, the girl decided to go...

"Sorry for ruin your meditation; it wasn't intentional. I promise that next time will be better... well, if you really wan to try again after today..." – said Connor smiling.

"No, it's not your fault, really... I..." – said Raven walking towards him feeling ashamed.

"So, I hope you can forgive me for what I am about to do" – said the wizard.

Connor grabbed Raven's wrists and gently pulled her towards him to hug her; he then kissed her kindly but intensely. He was being overwhelmed by all the feelings inside his heart so he decided to give him a chance. If she didn't feel the same at least he would have that kiss to remember her for the rest of his life. At the beginning, Raven got frozen feeling Connor lips touching hers and she didn't know how to react. Her mind was a perfect chaos and she feared to lose control of her powers at any minute; fortunately, a girl wearing a multicolor suit came to help. Love knew that it was now or never so she pushed Raven to do the right thing while helping her to regain control of Nevermore. The witch hugged and kissed back him then; Blackwood noticed her movement and felt incredibly happy for that. A while later the kiss ended and they both were staring to each other; finally, the wizard began speaking... or at least he tried.

"I… The truth is… I'll understand if you…"

"Don't say anything... I think after what happened everything is clear between us"

"I really love you Raven, I don't when I started feeling this, bit now it burns me inside. I swear I'll protect you even with my life if it's necessary" – said the wizard resolved.

"I… I love you too" – replied Raven hugging him again.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

All the guys were outside the Manor to begin the training; the wizard had asked them to go towards an area he previously had prepared for the sparring time. The place had no trees or grass and it was big enough for several training teams. When they all arrived, they split into teams: Connor and Terra, Robin and Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy. Jessy told the others she didn't want to participate so the wizard went to talk with her.

"Come on Jessy, if you never start training properly, you are not going to fully recover" – said Blackwood.

"You know my powers don't match yours, I don't want to make a fool of myself" – said Jessy.

"Spar with me, it's just training not a death combat" – said Raven joining them.

"Ok, but I warn you I'm not the best witch to spar with. I don't want to bore you to death" – replied Jessy.

"You won't, come on" – refuted Raven.

A few minutes later, the training began. Terra was standing in a flying rock and flied quickly towards Connor who threw her a red beam to disappear after. The blond girl evaded the attack, but didn't notice the wizard when he appeared behind her; the next thing she saw was the ground approaching very fast. Luckily, Terra had enough reflexes to call the stone and use it to fly again. Then, the blond girl went towards Connor and, a few seconds later, both fighters were facing each other again.

"Not bad, but you must learn to follow your instincts along with your reflexes in a battle. It's clear that you have what is needed, otherwise you would be lying in the ground right now" – said Connor – "Keep in mind that we're going to face an extremely powerful, heartless and despicable being. I simple pushed you far from the stone, he would have wiped you out" – concluded the wizard.

Terra clenched her fists with anger after hearing the wizard; the images from her nightmare returned to her mind and an unpleasant feeling filled her body. Connor was right, he was being soft with her and yet he could find an opening in her defense. The blond girl caressed her hair swearing to herself she wasn't be caught by surprise again. Next time she'd be ready.

"I'm ready" – said Terra.

"Good, let's continue then"

Immediately, Connor threw a powerful energy attack and then disappeared again; Terra moved aside to avoid being hit but again she didn't notice the wizard when he appeared behind. This time, Blackwood decided that just pushing her was not good enough so he blew her with a sphere of energy. Terra started falling to the ground and the wizard realized that this time she was going to hit it hard so he flew at full speed to grab her.

"I expect more from you Terra; in a real combat against wizards, warlock, sorcerers or witches you need to remind that they can appear and disappear at will so evading attacks is not the best approach to face them" – pointed Connor while leaving the girl in the ground.

"I… I'm sorry" – said Terra ashamed and getting angry with herself; again, the wizard was right. How could she pretend to fight such a powerful being like Zarth if she wasn't capable to match Connor in a training session?

"Being sorry is not enough. You need to improve your skills and learn how to use your powers fully. You need to reach the point where you can trust in your energy blindly. The strength of a warrior doesn't lie in his brute force, but in how much he trusts in his skills" – explained Blackwood.

The girl nodded silently and prepared to continue the sparring, but the wizard told her that the physical training was over. Now he was going to teach her how to control her energy, that way it was going to be easier for her to learn how to use the power of the elements properly. Connor knew that she could control the earth in a decent way, but for defeating Zarth it was required to master the 4 elements, no more, no less.

"The power of the elements lies inside you Terra. It has always been with you. Now is time to let it flow through your own self. Feel the energy flowing through your veins" – pointed Blackwood after Terra closed her eyes to focus – "Set your hands in a praying position, but don't let them touch each other; then focus your energy to fill the gap between your hands. Use the power of your mind to visualize the energy flowing from your body to that gap… Now think in the fire, imagine blazes of fire going from your body to the gap"

The bold girl made a big effort to follow the instructions precisely and started to visualize the fire; the titan reminded the fire attack she had used in the Order's Base during the rescue mission and use that thought as a channel to focus herself. She began to imagine the energy flowing through her body and eventually she lost track of time and space while being deeply focused in making the fire flows. Suddenly, the young girl started to feel a heat wave moving through her body towards her hands. Even, the others decided to make a halt on their training sessions to watch their partner; then, a big energy wave emanated from Terra and seeing her floating in the mid air surrounded by some kind of fire field and with a big flame between her hands astonished the others. Connor was very pleased to watch that because he knew that she actually could master her powers in time. In that moment, Terra opened her eyes and saw all his friends watching her and then saw the fire sphere and the flame in her hands… that vision freaked her out making her lose her concentration, which made her fall to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I think I got too excited" – said Terra standing up – "I just can't believe I did that" – she added.

"That was amazing Terra!!! We definitely got to kind you a better name… Terra doesn't suit you anymore. Maybe 'The Element's Goddess' or 'Elementia' or 'Aqualada', no, the last one is already a trademark" – said Beast Boy very excited.

"When I think I've seen everything from you, I saw this… Yes, you keep amusing me" – cut Raven bored – "If some day I need to hear some silly ideas, remind me to call you Beast Boy" – concluded the witch.

"You definitely have potential my friend, just keep practicing" – said Robin.

"Boo-Yaa!! Just wait a little bit you Zarth, very soon the teen titans are going to kick your ass" – added Cyborg.

"Congratulations Terra, I'm pretty sure you will control your power fully very soon" – pointed Jessy.

"Thos is great friend Terra!! That demonstration of power was just amazing; it was like the Kumled girst of ducghs the priests does in Tameran!!!" – yelled Starfire giving the other a bear hug.

"Eh, thanks Star… Star… can't breath… can't breath" – said the blond girl, her face turning blue.

"He, he, I'm sorry" – replied the Tameranian ashamed.

"You were great Terra, the energy flows freely through you; It's outstanding you could control the fire that way in your very first training session, well starting to controlling it" – corrected himself the wizard – "But let's not celebrate for the moment, this was just the beginning of a long road, so save the firework for later, you still have a lot to learn"

The titan nodded happy and the others started their training sessions while Connor and Terra resumed their meditation. There was a lot to do before thinking in fighting Zarth…

PPPPPPPPPPPP

A strong earthquake shook the field where our heroes were fighting Zarth; strong electrical discharges could be seen and a strange portal appeared in the place where Zarth was before being wiped out. None of them knew what to do. Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Jessy and Cyborg didn't understand what was happening; even Raven hadn't a reasonable explanation for it, although the 'crow girl' had a bad feeling about that portal. Feeling that she could confirm when noticed Terra and Connor faces, both of them looked very resolved after taking a decision about something.

"This must be ended right here and right now, the sacrifice must be done" – said Terra gravely.

"I see the memories came to you too" – replied Connor sighing downhearted.

"Gar… I… I don't know how to say this, but…" – started saying Terra while Beast Boy started to worry fearing the worst – "The destruction of Zarth has opened a portal to another dimension and if we don't close it right away… a powerful demon will enter in our world… we can't allow that… only a blood sacrifice can seal the portal… the blood of the killer must be offered…" – ended Terra with tears in her eyes.

"Terra, don't!!! You can't sacrifice yourself… Not again… It's just not fair!!!… Remember what I told you back in the cave. While we are alive we can find a way. Don't do this to me again, please. It has to be another way!!!" – yelled the green leaving the other warriors astonished.

"It has"

In that moment, Connor started walking towards the time-space anomaly and seeing him doing that shocked Terra. The wizard moved so quickly that the others couldn't react on time to stop him. Then, jus before going through the portal, Blackwood whirled around and said his last words…

"You have sacrificed yourself a lot already; life hasn't been nice with you deserve to have a future. Be wise and I hope everything turns fine from now on" – started the wizard looking at the girl, then he closed his eyes and opening again to look at Raven – "The blood of the killer must be offered and that blood flows through Terra's vein but also through mine. I'm sorry for leaving you like this; I really wanted to live a future… a future at your side. Please don't forget me and live… please live, I'm doing this for you… feel me when you breath because I'll always be close to you. I love you Raven and I'm happy because I could feel love before going away" – concluded the wizard; then he cut his arms with a spell and entered the portal. A huge explosion that sent the warriors away took place and afterwards there were no traces of the portal or Connor…

"No, this can't be happening, this can't be happening, Nooooo!!!!!!!" – yelled Raven waking up.

The woman sat on her bed and quickly took her hands to her face to clean the tears she was feeling. Her heart was beating real fast and the young girl couldn't describe how she felt in that instant. Now it was worse than the time when Slade showed the future in her birthday, she was feeling the world crushing before her… the lost was so strong she barely could bear it… Raven then tried to calm down convincing herself that it had been a nightmare. Luckily for her, the scream had been part of the nightmare too so nobody had listened to it, or so she thought.

"Are you ok?" – asked Connor knocking her door – "I listened some noises coming from your room and… well… I just came to see if everything is ok"

"I'm fine, it was just a bad dream, thanks for worrying"

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me, I'm ok"

"Well in that case jus try to get some sleep, it's a little bit late and tomorrow we have another training session"

"I know, don't worry, see you tomorrow"

After Connor went inside his room and closed the door, Raven left hers to go towards the library to start a long research… she needed to know some things and the sooner, the better.

"I've been through a lot of things and I'm perfectly aware I have to pay good attention to my nightmares. I really don't want to lose you Connor, many things are changing inside and I kind of like it that way. So, I need to know what was that I saw and I won't rest 'til I figure it out" – thought Raven while going inside the library to look for the parchments Jessy had showed them a few days ago.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Many days went by since the first training session and our heroes were improving their skill in a geometric progression. Raven instead of suppressing her emotions to use her powers was enhancing her own power by letting her emotions flow. Jessy was more confident with her skills and her spells, jinxes and curses were stronger. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire and Robin were in excellent shape and with one goal in their minds: to defeat Zarth. But, the best improvements came from Terra, she could control Earth and Fire at will and her control over air and water was not bad. The blond girl could manipulate air to rise at will and she even could create walls of water. Connor and Raven spent hours meditating and sparring together and their powers had increased significantly. They all knew it was a matter of time before taking the decision to fight Zarth, but before it was necessary to master some things. However, what they didn't know was that the peace they were enjoying wasn't going to last any longer…

The whole group was inside the house except for Connor and Raven who were meditating in a lake nearby that captivated the with the first time she saw it. The both were floating in the lotus flower position with their eyes closed and their minds focused in making their energies increase when suddenly several explosions shook the area. The wizard and the witch interrupted abruptly their meditation… the couple was worried since it was quite clear that the source of the noise was the house. Immediately they flew towards the Manor and when they arrived could see the others in the middle of a vicious battle. Finally Jack had found their whereabouts, but what surprised Connor was that instead of warlocks, they had sent Assassins and that didn't make sense… unless Jack had nothing to do with that, but Zarth himself. That complicated things; if Zarth had decided to look for them the time for the final battle was nearest than ever. But there was no other possible explanation; commanding Assassins was reserved to selected wizards and witches and they all were members of the Order of Chaos. In any case, that was not the best moment for dissertations, they had to fight over 10 Assassins and that was the main priority.

"You must be careful Rae, those beings are extremely smart and powerful" – said Connor.

"I'll keep that in mind, but we got to help the others" – replied the witch who was wearing her blue suit.

Beast Boy transformed into a velociraptor and had managed to knock out one of the assassins by biting it; but almost immediately, other killer threw an electrical discharge towards the titan that sent blew him several meters away. That made Terra going berserk, the girl rose to face the killer and then she threw a blaze of fire towards it. Nevertheless, the assassin disappeared and appeared behind the titan, who was expecting that move and a huge stone hit the killer, destroying it.

There were 8 assassins standing and the killers seemed to be real angry now after watching what had happened to its partners. One of the beings flew quickly towards Starfire, who reacted throwing several starbolts to the attacker, who evaded them by disappearing. The red-haired girl then rose to be out of reach, but the assassin appeared above and hit her with a strong fire attack that sent her towards the ground. Almost immediately, the assassin got on guard to face Jessy, who created an air whirlpool that threw towards it; the creature disappeared and decided to appeared next to the witch, but in that moment, the killer was hit by a light grenade that wiped it out.

"Nice shot Robin" – said Jessy.

"Three down and seven to go" – replied the leader.

Other assassin was facing Cyborg, who was shooting at the creature with his laser canon; nevertheless, the killer evaded the attacks easily and quickly ran towards the titan who jumped aside to avoid being hit. The assassin then disappeared and appeared in front of the titan, who quickly jump backwards while shooting a huge energy beam towards the killer, who was hopeless destroyed.

"Boo-Yaa! It needs more than a bunch of bad dressed guys to beat the great…" – started to say Cyborg but an energy attack knocked him out.

"Damn!" – said Connor watching his opponent knocking out the titan – "You are fighting the wrong guy my friend, your opponent it's me" – concluded the wizard while throwing a powerful light attack to the assassin.

The creature moved aside to evade the beam and immediately counterattacked with a blaze of fire; Blackwood disappeared and appeared behind the killer, who anticipated that moved and was ready to kill him; however, before the assassin could move, a dark energy sphere hit and destroyed it.

"You owe me one" – said Raven smiling-

"I just can't believe it… I underestimated that thing… thanks Rae" – said Connor ashamed.

The conversation was interrupted when two more assassins appeared before them so the witch and the wizard got on guard.

"Azarath Mythrion Zynthos!" – yelled Raven throwing a powerful dark energy attack towards both killers.

Connor disappeared at the same time and when one of the creatures evaded the attack, the wizard appeared behind, wiping it out with a light attack. The other assassin flew towards Raven to kill her, but the witch adopted her soul self, which astonished the killer, who couldn't avoid being destroyed by a dark energy beam that came out from the crow.

"Seven down and three to go" – said Connor moving next to the titan.

"We almost…"

"Raven, do you trust me?" – asked Connor in a whisper.

"Yes, but…" – replied the girl surprised.

A huge red beam passed incredible close to Raven's head to fully hit an assassin who was standing behind her ready to kill the titan. The creature was caught by surprise and couldn't avoid being destroyed.

"That was…" – started saying Raven astonished.

"We're even" – said Connor smiling at her.

Robin and Jessy were facing one of the two assassins left standing and suddenly the girl threw to red beams towards the creature that decided to test her power by blocking the attack with a blaze of fire. However, the boy wonder was prepared for that and two light grenades hit the killer destroying it. The last assassin decided to run away after watching her nine partners being wiped out, but before it could fly 20 feet two girls appeared in front of him.

"Leaving so soon?" – asked Terra with a grin.

"You are so kind and we want you to stay" – added Starfire fully recovered.

The Tameranian threw several starbolts towards the killer, who disappeared to appear behind the blond girl, but Terra counterattacked with a blaze of fire that was evaded for the creature. This tie, the assassin appeared in front of the red-haired girl and quickly grabbed her wrists to avoid her fly out of reach.

"Just for the record… Only my boyfriend touch me that way!!!!" – yelled the girl wiping out the creature with two green beams that came from her eyes.

After the fight, the titans met inside the Manor; their faces reflected tiredness, but their minds were thinking that it had been just the beginning of the final battle. Luckily no witnesses were left so they had bought more time to prepare for the fight against Zarth.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Zarth was having a meeting with the Masters of the Order of Chaos and the Order of Darkness; his eyes reflected a cold heart and great resolution. It was obvious that he had lost patience so the moment for his final movement had come.

"Give an order to all your men to cease the searching of those cockroaches" – pointed Zarth.

"But Master…" – said Jack.

"Shut your mouth up, you filthy last class wizard!!!! It's quite clear that your pathetic efforts to capture six teenagers, a wizard and a librarian have been in vain. We have lost too much time already and the final step must be taken. It's time for the world to meet its doom" – cut Zarth – "Now, we are going to change our strategy… we're going to make them come to us… It's time to wipe out this city… the war has started" – concluded the warrior.

"But the key is still alive" – said John worried.

"I'm not going to be afraid of a silly teenager who barely can control the power she has. We have delayed the attack for too long and when the time comes I'm going to send that little girl to meet her god" – replied Zarth while the others nodded silently – "I want every men available to be ready because the conquest of Jump City has begun" – sentenced the warrior.

"What the titans are going to do now that Zarth decided to take action? Are they really prepared to fight him? What is the meaning of Terra and Raven's dreams? Will somebody else dare to touch Starfire from now on? Don't miss the next chapter.

**Author's Notes:** Well, another chapter is done I hope you like it. I know it started a little bit slow, but there were some stuff left I needed to develop, but I included some action at the end to compensate and balance the chapter. Apparently Zarth's patience ran out and he decided to begin the attack against Jump City, which definitely is going to catalyze some decisions. Let's hope that our heroes can stop the war is beginning. Next chapter will have more action so keep readying and see you in next part.


	11. And The War Begins

Hello, sorry for the delay… I had a lot of things to do and I haven't had a lot of time for writing, but finally chapter 11 is here; enjoy it… by the way… I could use some reviews…

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 11**

"**And The War Begins"**

_Connor…_

The titans, Jessy and me were enjoying a great dinner; my best friend cooked the dishes and they were delicious; she was a great cooker indeed. After the battle against the assassins, we were trying to rest. We needed to recover fully since the final battle was about to start, yet neither of us had an exact idea of when the fight would begin.

"This beef is just delicious, you're really good" – said Robin.

"This tastes like the Sblorb of my planet, it's luxurious friend Jessy… you deserve the joy hug!" – yelled Starfire excited.

"I don't think is necessary Star, she knows you're enjoying the food" – said Robin while grabbing one arm of the Tameranian to prevent Jessy to be suffocated to death by a bear hug. The others started to laugh by seeing the scene.

"Thanks a lot to bother cooking me a special tofu dish" – said Beast Boy.

"Thig ig vegly gut" – added Terra without stop eating making the glances of everybody to focus on her – "Ghat?" – asked the blond girl without noticing what was going on.

"I really appreciate your comments but I don't think I'm that good" – replied Jessy smiling.

"Good? You're the best chef ever in this tower… well, next to Connor" – refuted Cyborg laughing.

The guys kept talking and suddenly I lost track of their conversation; in fact I was barely listening them. Words kept going through my ears, but my brain refused to process them. In those moments I was immersed in a brainstorming session; theories, thoughts, possible explanations were part of it since there were some loose ends in what was happening. One of the things I could explain was why even the real Assassins were being so easy to beat; in fact, they were being vulnerable to light attacks and that didn't make sense. Normally a one to one fight against them was extremely difficult so I feared the worst when I saw ten of those creatures prepared to battle; however, the fight was not difficult at all; we even could say that we defeated them quite fast and that was intriguing me... Eventually, it became evident for the others that I was not paying attention to their conversation so Beast Boy tried to pull me out of my trance.

"Houston calling, please respond from outer space, over" – said the green titan parodying a NASA call.

"Connor responding from outer space, over" – I replied.

"Man, where have you been? You was in nowhere, we were talking to you and you didn't even notice it" – pointed Cyborg.

"I'm sorry guys, I was just digressing... there are a lot of ideas in my head" – I said ashamed.

"And would you mind sharing your thoughts with us?" – asked Robin.

"There are some things that just don't make sense to me. I don't understand why both Orders joined forces so sudden. I still can't believe Jack killed Joseph and tried to blame for me that. I can't figure it out Zarth's next move now that he controls both orders. I don't understand why the assassins that came here were that weak..." – I started saying, but Terra cut me out.

"Weak?" I'd say they were pretty tough instead" – said the blond girl.

"It was a nasty fight" – added Cyborg.

"Those creatures are too treacherous" – pointed Beast Boy.

"Yes, I know those creatures were a real pain back there, but let me put things in this way… if those Assassins would have fought the same way I've seen them do it before… we would still be fighting against them… and probably losing" – I answered trying to make clear for them the real power those killer could have.

Everybody went silent trying to understand my last words; their faces showed they were really worried even afraid considering the consequences. I really felt bad for having taken them into this mess in the first place, the test that were waiting for us were going to be real tough and extremely dangerous… and, a the end of the day, that battle was more mine than them… that thought made me feel very guilty and I couldn't erase that feeling from my mind.

"You have nothing to feel guilty for, as Robin have said, the decision of helping you was ours and we don't regret it" – said Raven sincerely.

"Eh?" – I said by reflex… I was surprised by the fact she could read my mind considering that I was sure of having closed it to avoid any possible intrusion – "I, well, you see, this is not your battle guys, really" – I said trying to recover from the shock.

"Maybe at the beginning it wasn't, but now I can assure you that it is" – said Beast Boy who had turned on the TV a few seconds before.

The entire group turned back to watch the news as Beast Boy had requested; in that moment all the channels were broadcasting live; the scenes were really shocking, chaos everywhere, buildings destroyed, people running for their life, explosions all around the place, the army and the cops fighting desperately an enemy that wasn't being shown on camera yet, the firemen department trying to rescue several people trapped in the ruins of the buildings; in short, we were watching a city being slowly wiped out due to a large scale offensive; but it was when we read the headlines when we got frozen… those scenes were not from an unknown city or from an armed conflict in another continent, those scenes were being broadcasted from Jump City…

_Robin…_

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me; before me it were shown scenes of what looked a war zone; the city had turned out into a pandemonium and the worst was that it was happening not far from where we were. That barbaric battle was happening in the city we swore to protect. Damn it!! This was unacceptable. This was the first time that the people were actually feeling the horror of a war; in the battle against Trigon, they were petrified therefore didn't watch the destruction he caused… only we lived the tragedy and felt the pain… but now, now all the citizens were suffering the real terror by being merciless attacked… Definitely, Zarth couldn't care less for the fate of the city; he was prepared to wipe out the place to accomplish his objectives. Seconds later we confirmed what we already knew; one of the channels displayed in the headlines that the attack was being carried out by the Order of Chaos… finally they had decided to stop being an undercover organization…

I really needed to give instruction to the team, but before speaking I looked at their faces and noticed their anger and consternation. Terra hugged hard Beast Boy, I think it was unconsciously, and then she buried her face in his chest to avoid watching the TV while Garfield was completely astonished with the scenes. Cyborg couldn't bear the situation, his face showed rage and he was clenching his fists so hard that I could see blood on them; he definitely wasn't having a food time. Starfire were sobbing hard and several tears ran through her face while she got close to me to feel protected and I hugged her with no doubts… hesitating was not an option right now. Raven changed her eternal poker face and showed astonishment and fear while taking her right hand to cover her mouth. Jessy and Connor were deeply shocked too; their faces showed huge agony due to what was happening… After analyzing the reactions of everyone I took some minutes to put all the pieces in place and then I started talking; I was the leader and I had to guide them in this moments of pain.

"It seems that one of the questions has been replied… titans, the time for the final battle has come" – I said calmly.

"You're right my friend" – said Connor meditating to make a decision – "Now I am with you guys and despite I'm not part of the team I want you to know that I am at your orders" – added Blackwood resolved.

"The same goes for me" – confirmed Jessy

"Hey guys watch that!" – said Beast Boy stopping me from giving the witch and the wizard an answer.

**News Audio**

… _James Williams here, this is unbelievable! We never thought we would someday be witnessing this kind of destruction! Right now I'm on the island where the titans had their headquarters. As I told you some minutes ago, we could see a huge explosion in this place and we feared the worst… and as you can see, the T Tower has been reduced to rubble by that blow… fortunately, the firemen haven't found any body yet which are good news…That gives us hope that the titans are still alive somewhere waiting for the right moment to strike back… but if you are hearing this broadcast let me tell you that you better find that moment right now because otherwise you will have nothing to save… back to the studios…_

**End of News Audio**

The reporter was really shocked and by the end of his speech he couldn't help his voice sounding downhearted. It was dreadful watching our home reduced to ashes… we had lived many moments in there. There were so many memories inside those walls, so many feelings… In those instants, the initial surprise and shock were replaced by anger and powerlessness while seeing how those guys were destroying the city and everything we had been protecting. Definitely, there was no time to waste; each minute passed meant dozens of people dead and we couldn't allow that happening anymore... it didn't matter if perhaps we were not ready yet for the battle or if there were assassins more powerful than which we fought like Connor said or if Terra couldn't control her powers properly yet... It was out of the question to simply stay here and train some more while many people keep dying just a few kilometers away; it was nor or never, it was the time to win or being defeated... and considering the consequences in each scenario... being defeated was not an option...

"Well, stop wasting time, the city needs us more than ever and we can't fail it" – I said resolved trying to cheer up the others.

The guys nodded and seconds later we were flying to the city; my looking the horizon we could see the signals of what we just watched in the news... fire was everywhere and several smoke columns filled the sky like a silent cry for help. After seeing that landscape we decided to go faster. Connor was carrying Jessy while flying and Raven was just aside them using her dark energy to keep their speed. Starfire was carrying me in her arms while fly in the front of the group... it was strange being so close to her after what had happened in the library; feeling her breath and her warm arms hugging me made me feel really alive and happy; her presence gave me the balance and peace needed to face the horror we were about to fight and I still couldn't believe it. But, now it wasn't the proper time to make dissertations about my feelings, our duty was first. Terra was manipulating the air surrounding her to fly (or float and move perhaps) to be aside Beast Boy who had transformed into an eagle; the blond girl also controlled the rock that acted as a plane for Cyborg, which proved that her skills had considerable increased thanks to her hard training and that gave hope to us all that she will be ready when the time arrives... And so we were flying towards our destiny without knowing what was in the future for us, but with only one goal in our heads: Beat those treacherous warlocks and make the peace returns to our city that truly deserves it... a peace we had fought hard to maintain...

PPPPPPPPPPPP

_Tara…_

I couldn't help walking from one side to the other while hearing the explosions outside; each detonation increased the desperation I was feeling because those noises meant only one thing: _Zarth had decided to begin the attack_. The room, which acted as a prison for me, was very damp and the smell of mold was also pretty strong since all the walls were covered by it. The light was almost nonexistent and the temperature was really low; nevertheless, the cell conditions meant nothing for me; I had more important things in my mind, being one of them to escape from my prison. Although the reasons for doing that were not the mold or the dampness. Many months had passed since Jack decided to capture me and keep me captive in the Order's Base; but despite the facts, I always had the hope of escaping on time to reach Terra and warning her about the prophecy. However, the final battle had begun and I was still locked in a filthy cell down in the dungeons... Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from the main corridor, the noise was increasing each second and finally a shadow could be seen behind the door of the cell where I was. At the beginning I feared the worst and prepared myself to face my executioner, but then I realized that the person who opened the door didn't have killing intentions...

"Tara you have to get out of here, things are out of control out there; Jack has gone nuts... He asked us to form an alliance with the Order of Chaos and currently, Zarth is leading many members of both Orders into a war against he city... thousands of innocent people are dying" – said the wizard after coming inside my cell.

"Dominic?" – I asked with some doubts while trying to identify the man that came inside – "So, it has begun then..." – I added after confirming his identity.

"I'm sorry for what happened and you know I'd have taken you out of here sooner if I could; but since Jack locked you here due to that absurd theory that Andrews had transferred his powers to you and that you were the key, the surveillance in this part of the dungeons became huge. In fact, I still don't know why Jack didn't kill you after confirming that Terra was the key instead of you... You have been very lucky" – added the other.

"What have you known about her?! Is she ok?!" – I asked forgetting what he have said before my daughter's name... I was extremely worried about her... I feared the worst, again.

"Nothing more, after coming here with Connor and the others to rescue Jessy we have received no more data regarding her. It's like she would have disappeared" – said Dominic.

"That was very foolish and she could have paid a high price for it... they have no idea of the prophecy or how much they are in danger. We need to warn them!"

"I know, I know, but first we need to prepare ourselves; many members of the Order listened to Jack and now they're fighting alongside with the Wizards and Witches of the Order of Chaos; not to mention all the Assassins, I had never seen so many killers together. That alliance is taking over the city without sweating and yet they're making a massacre all over the place. They're everywhere Tara, leaving the Base without a plan is too risky" – said Dominic gravely.

"But staying here doing nothing is not a better choice!" – I said resolved.

"You're right and that's why I've come for you. All the members who didn't accept that alliance are gathering to fight them, or at least try. We are being clearly outnumbered, but we can make things more difficult for them… Besides, our main goal is helping those Titans, Connor, Jessy and Terra"

"Then stop wasting time and take me to the others; my daughter is coming to the city I can feel it, Andrew's energy lies inside her… but if I can feel her, Zarth can too and I'm sure he's going to send several troops to capture her" – I said trying to calm down.

"Ok, let's go then; you're going to be our guide to find Terra"

PPPPPPPPPPPP

_Terra…_

After some minutes, the Tower could be seen below us; it was obvious that the place and the entire island had been reduced to rubble; in that moment we saw each other and it was like we could read our minds because without saying one single word, everybody agreed to keep flying towards the city instead of stopping in our headquarters. Right now it was more important to stop Zarth than to quantify our loses, the Tower and our stuff could be replaced or rebuilt later, but people life has no price or way to be restored… when somebody dies, there's no way to bring him/her back so we needed to stop the massacre as soon as possible, every minute wasted meant more meaningless killing. That reminded me the huge responsibility lying over my shoulders; and a great fear covered my body every time the moment when Connor read the rest of the parchments came to my mind…

**Flashback**

The whole group was gathered in Connor's Manor after one of the several training sessions we had when Blackwood called us vehemently so again we could see the parchments containing the prophecies. The wizard opened one of them and started explaining that what we had watched thanks to Jessy's powers were only some historical facts required to understand what would happen in the future. So, summarizing, those scenes were only some kind of prologue to the prophecies, but not the main dish. Those words made several questions to rise in my mind, well, in all our minds, actually; but before we could say anything, Connor started reading the scroll…

And the circle of life and death will repeat, the dark forces can't be locked forever and by the end of one era, a great evil power will come back, a heartless being will be set free to bring chaos all over the Earth. Only the power of the elements will stand a chance against him; but this time, the demon won't be able to be locked again; if the light forces win, the demon will be destroyed for good… The final battle will begin; Zarth, ruler of the shadows and evil warlock, will try to cover the world with death and endless destruction; while the wizard's daughter, titan and villain who by that time will be back from the stone where was locked after saving many people from the fire of the Earth, will try to preserve harmony and peace. The result of that duel won't be written or foreseen by any form of life or by any soul. Nobody will know the winner identity until the battle ends. Endless annihilation if the dark forces win, praises if the elements prevail… although even if the elements prevail, pain and misery could find another way to emerge…

We listened those words with extreme caution and deep silence and when Connor finished reading the text they all turned their eyes at me very incredulously. Evidently, the "titan and villain" part along with the "saving many people from the fire of the Earth" part, not to mention the "back from the stone" line were clear references to me. It was just amazing to realize that my life had been written many years before I was even born… even being Slade's apprentice was part of an ancient prophecy… every move I made, every step I took had been recorded in those parchments… my head couldn't process all the information and I think the others were feeling exactly the same... But, what we agreed from that moment was to train harder… the result of the battle was not written, so it depended on our skills and strengths… and the most important thing those scrolls showed to us was that it was really worthy to be prepared.

**End of Flashback**

The prophecy didn't tell the result of the final battle; in fact, it was written that nobody would be able to know it until the very end of it... That implied that the winner would be decided on skills, like a 'survival of the fittest' approach. But that didn't make me feel better; it is true I could control my powers way better than before meeting Connor; in fact, I could control the four elements at will, but will that be enough? Zarth had to be an extremely skillful warrior and wizard and I don't think I have mastered my powers yet... Will I stand a chance against him? The prophecy said I'll do, but I was not sure... many thoughts filled my mind and I was getting more afraid with each minute passed. Failing meant the end of the world and that load started to feel very heavy over my shoulders...

_Raven…_

Eventually we started approaching to the city port and the scenes we had watched on the TV became an unpleasant reality; in fact, this time, like many others, reality beat fiction. Many buildings shared the same luck than the tower and a lot of people either hurt or dead could be seen in the streets nearby. That landscape reminded me when my father tried to take over the world by using me as a portal thanks to... yes, another prophecy; but that time, the people didn't suffer like now because didn't notice anything and certainly nobody was killed. Finally I understood what Connor said to me when he showed me the scrolls that described the battle between Trigon and me as a prelude for something even worse...

**Flashback**

I was reading some scrolls of the original prophecies trying to find an explanation to the nightmare I had days ago; I even tried reading several books from the library itself since there were some terms in the prophecies I didn't fully understand for being in other languages (including some dead languages); besides, there were some references to certain parchments, legends and other stuff I could only find in Connor's books. However, no matter how hard I had tried, nothing appeared, not even a close explanation for that nightmare; and something inside me kept telling me that the dream represented a warning, that inner voice told me that my nightmare had really been a vision... then Connor came in and stop my dissertation.

"Well, Rae I see you have found yourself a hobby" – he said smiling while giving me a cute kiss in my lips.

"Eh, yes" – I said surprised by the kiss although I kissed him back. I still didn't get used to being his girlfriend or to be kissed and that stuff – "I felt curious so I came here wanting to know some more" – I added hiding my true intentions.

"Do you want some company?" – he asked while grabbing a chair.

"That wouldn't bother me" – I lied with a hint of a smile; I really enjoyed her company, but with he around I would have to be more careful for looking what I really wanted to know.

Both of us started to read the documents since he also wanted to do more researching about the final battle against Zarth. Although our motivations were different. By seeing his face, I could say he was really excited having those parchments in his hands and it wasn't hard to understand why... those documents kept deep secrets about dark arts, black magic, new spells, etc; not to mention some knowledge about de future, some very important knowledge indeed. And there was no other source for having this information... I decided to put aside those thoughts and quickly I had focused again on my own investigation, but suddenly a gasp from him cut my concentration.

"I think you should read this, Rae" – said Connor seriously, which was not very common on him.

I distrustfully took the scroll and seconds later I was reading another prophecy; but this one was completely different... each line I read went directly to my heart and mind like a knife. My emotions were getting wild and I barely could keep calmed while seeing the text in front of me...

_And that child, who was born by the unnatural union between the angel and the demon, will try to redeem herself by fighting evil; but she will learn that her own evil can't be stopped... even against her will, she'll become a portal for Trigon entering to this realm and only her friends' faith will help the daughter when facing her father in a battle for salvation... the white will overcome the blue and light will defeat darkness. But beware... when this battle ends the real danger will be close. Tremble with fear you enemies or Zarth when the Raven emerge victorious because that will only mean one thing: the time for his arrival will have come._

It was the turn of my life being written in a parchment. My fears, my deepest horrors being foreseen many years, no centuries ago. Many answers I needed were written in that document, which came to my hands a little late. But the worst part lied in the last words, which still sounding inside my mind. The only meaning of my existence and my battle against Trigon was to warn others about Zarth's arrival... Connor noticed how affected I was and immediately I could feel her arms surrounding me; being hugged by him was a completely new sensation for me and I still didn't know how to react or how would be the proper reaction, but I knew something for sure... I liked feeling him that way.

"That was what Jack told us when Trigon appeared and that's why we decided to remain unnoticed. Of course he conveniently omitted the part about Zarth's arrival" – said Connor lowering his voice.

"I just can't believe everything I suffered for many years was just a page of some prophecies... it's strange knowing that the most important battle of my life was only a simple sign, like a neon light of a display advertisement. If I would have known this before I wouldn't have bother so much" – I said trying to put my thoughts in order while making a little joke by speaking with sarcasm.

"Don't take it that way; for you that was the most important battle and not only for you, but for your friends too. They never gave up on you and supported you 'til the very end. It's not easy to find people who actually are with you in he bad times; and you also must understand the danger represented by Zarth; he's despicable, heartless and extremely evil. I assure you he won't be as benevolent with people as Trigon was" – added Connor gravely.

"What do you mean with 'as benevolent as Trigon was'?" – I said getting angry – "He couldn't care less for the city, the Earth or the people. He wanted to take over the world no matter what and…"

"It's not necessary to assume that attitude. I didn't mean Trigon was a good guy, but remember that when he came all the people got petrified and didn't noticed what had really happened. For mankind, that incident didn't happen at all and that, honey, that will be the main difference you'll see when Zarth arrives"

**End of Flashback**

_Beast Boy…_

We all were trying to get used to this mess in which the city had become; it was amazing what Zarth and his followers had been capable to do in a short period of time and the worst thing was this was just the beginning. In fact, we just reached land when a group of guys in black suits came to face us. Immediately we all landed to begin the fight against them.

"Titans go!" – said Robin throwing a couple of grenades to one of the attackers.

The creature didn't bother to evade the attack, in fact it received the hit fully and continued his way towards Robin as nothing would have happened; the wonder boy was pretty surprised by that and didn't have the reflexes to evade counterattack of the assassin that threw the titan meters away. The killer instead of making a pause flew at full speed towards the leader of the titans to finish him; but I transformed into a dragon and flew to cut its way. However, when I reached a point to use a blaze of fire against it, the creature disappeared and the next thing I felt was a huge punch in my back that threw me against the road. Despite the hit I just had received, I quickly stood up since I didn't want to give it a chance to take me by surprise again; nevertheless, when I tried to find it I couldn't see it anywhere. Suddenly a shadow emerged from the ground in front of me and I could see a horrible pair of eyes in the middle of an incredible dark face. A strange feeling started taking over myself and I began loosing control of my body; the next thing I knew was that creature grabbing me by my neck in order to kill me by stabbing me in the chest with its right hand… fortunately, in that very moment a huge blaze of fire wiped out the killer.

"You better be careful from now on, the assassins can put you into a trance… that one almost killed you" – reproached Connor.

"It's alright dude, don't take it so hard, it won't happen again" – I said trying to hide the fear I was still feeling…

_Terra…_

There were a large group of assassins and we soon realized these ones were completely different compared with the others we fought at Connor's manor. Now, the creatures were extremely more powerful and defeating them was going to be a titanic task. Two killers surrounded Starfire and immediately I wanted to help her, but another assassin blocked my way. The red-haired girl tried to use her starbolts against her opponents, but that didn't work and soon both counterattacked with a fierce energy beam and instants later, the Tameranian feel to the ground. Once again I tried to reach her, but the other assassin cut my way for the second time, but this time it threw me an electrical discharge that I could block with a fire shield created by my left hand. However, when I wanted to strike back the killer had disappeared and immediately I flew upwards guessing its next move… fortunately I was right and I could see the assassin appearing right behind where I was floating before so I took advantage of this and destroyed it with a blaze of fire. Finally I could reach Starfire who was standing up while moaning in pain.

"Are you ok?" – I asked worried.

"I'll be better when we destroy those Glrogres" – replied the alien visibly angry while rising to go back to the battle.

"Wait, your powers don't hurt them at all" – I said while flying aside her.

Starfire was soon in front another assassin and a beam came out from her eyes, the attack was directed towards the killer that instead of avoiding it, decided to fight it back with an electrical discharge of its own. The assassin's attack easily overpowered Starfire's one and continue its way towards the Tameranian. Seeing its attack being beaten astonished the titan and apparently she didn't have intentions to evade the killer's beam so I decided to use the same trick it had used. I created a horizontal tornado that overpowered the assassin's attack turning it back to the killer, but the creature disappeared to avoid my move. Immediately I grabbed Starfire's right hand and took her away to avoid the assassin caught us by surprise.

_Robin…_

Cyborg, Jessy and I was fighting against two creatures that seemed to read our minds since they foresawevery move we made, which was turning the battle a piece of cake for them. So, we created a strategy and decided to see if it worked; the half-human half-robot threw an energy beam towards one of the killers that didn't bother to evade it; the creature received the hit and continued its way to strike Cyborg. Nevertheless, Jessy cast a fire spell against it, but the assassin could evade it and counterattacked with an electrical discharge. It was in that moment when I made my part by using my staff to repel the killer's attack and send it back to the assassin that didn't see that coming and was destroyed. Now there was only one more left that immediately threw several energy beams, which forced us to split to avoid the attacks. And the worst part was the arrival of two more assassins… now we had to face three creatures; Jessy threw several blazes of fire trying to keep the killers busy, but the three beings rose to avoid the attacks. Then, the assassins flew towards us but before reaching us they disappeared; I left the place where I was hiding to avoid being caught by surprise and the others did the same so instants later the three of us were standing in the middle of the street and the three killers appeared surrounding us.

"Well friends, now we are in trouble" – said Jessy.

Well if you said that because we were fighting three assassin now I guess we're doomed because those guys have called two more friends" – said Cyborg preparing for battle.

"We can't be defeated, we have to fight them, Jump City needs us more than ever… we have to beat those creatures" – I said trying to be optimistic.

"I think either you lost your contact lens if you use them or your mask is too tight buddy" – said Cyborg.

I was about to replied when the assassins started their attack, but luckily for us, Raven used her soul self to rescue us. Instants later we were along with her and Connor in one of the roofs nearby.

"Now you owe me a big one" – said Raven half smiling.

"You bet, those bad dressed guys are a pain" – said Cyborg.

"Thanks Raven, but it's not over yet" – I said hitting the ground with my right fist while feeling powerless.

In that moment, Beast Boy, Terra and Starfire arrived to the roof where we were; the three looked very injured, which showed their fights hadn't been easier.

"Ok, please somebody wrote down the license plate of the truck that hit me" – said Beast Boy feeling dizzy.

"Those creatures are too powerful; my attacks don't hurt them" – said Starfire.

"And they keep coming and coming… we are way outnumbered here… it's a matter of time before they beat us" – added Terra.

And she was right, any second passed more creatures arrived and if at the beginning things were difficult now it was impossible to beat them all; definitely it had to be other way and the only thing I thought was running away and try to find Zarth avoiding as many battles as possible. But we had just gathered when a large number of killers surrounded us.

_Connor…_

It were more than 20 creatures all around us and our real chances against them were just below zero; and the worst thing was that even if by a miracle we could beat them… there were plenty more killers to fight before even get close to Zarth. I was pretty sure he had filled the entire city with assassins to protect his new domain. We were expecting them to begin the attack and the killers were about to start it when a rain of fire fell destroying a lot of the creatures and making the rest to withdraw. Immediately we searched for the source of that attack and a big smile formed in my lips while seeing Dominic, with a large number of wizards and witches, to the rescue. Now, the outnumbered one were the assassins and seconds later there was no one standing so we could gather to talk.

"Well, I guess now you believe me" – I said as a greeting.

"I do indeed and I'm sorry for don't believing you before. I've been blind and I didn't see what Jack was planning… but it's not too late for stopping this disaster" – replied Dominic.

In that moment, a woman came close to us and we got astonished after realizing she was the same woman we have watched in the scenes of the scrolls. None of us said anything and we all felt time had been frozen… finally, mother and daughter met their gazes and it was like none of the two knew what to say or to do. It were just too many emotions together and we needed time to assimilate them… it was like being in a roller coaster; finally, after several seconds, our blond friend broke the silence.

"Mom? Is that you?" – said Terra doubtful while walking towards the other woman.

"Yes darling, but how could you recognize me? I don't understand, unless…" – started saying Tara.

"We've watched the scrolls" – replied Terra.

Tara nodded silently and then both women ran towards each other to end in a big hug… many tears ran freely in both women cheeks and for a moment we all forgot what was happening in the city. The anger, the fear, the powerlessness we were feeling were suddenly wiped out by that endless joy of seeing mother and daughter together again.

"I'm sorry I didn't look for you before, I should have done it. I was a fool and I'll never forgive myself for that… I'll never forgive myself since I haven't been a real mom for you" – said Tara feeling anger with herself – "But I've always cared about you… and I've never left you alone" – ended the woman.

"I know mom, I know you did what you did to protect me, I…" – started saying Terra but Dominic quickly cut her.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I'm sure there are more assassins on their way here so you better leave as soon as you can. You have to reach Zarth whereabouts"

"You're absolutely right, but the streets are not safe anymore; the entire city is taken over by those creatures" – I said stepping forward.

"I know, that's why you will have to use the sewer system…it's the less dangerous place in the city at least… We have used it so far to move around and it's almost clear from assassins" – said Dominic.

But before I could reply another group of killers appeared very close to where we were and they outnumbered us again so everybody prepared to fight.

"You can't stay here to fight; you have another mission, a more important one indeed. Go now, we'll try to buy you some time" – said Dominic.

"But that is suicide" – I said worried.

"Don't worry. We won't let those creatures kill us. Besides, your mission is not a piece of cake type one. Let's see who buries who" – joked Dominic.

"Are you coming with us?" – asked Terra to her mother very worried.

"You bet… I'll never leave you alone again" – answered Tara – "I'm sorry for leaving you Dominic but our paths split from here my old friend" – added the older of the Markov while watching Dominic.

"It's ok, see you soon"

After waving them goodbye, Raven used her soul self for taking us to a street nearby but away from the assassins sight; from our new position we could hear the sounds of the fight between Dominic's group and the killers. Thanks to them, we had the proper time for reaching the sewers without being noticed. Robin, who knew perfectly well the zone and the system, quickly found an open path for entering and seconds later we were walking towards the Order of Chaos headquarters for the final battle…

_What dangers await for our heroes in their way to Zarth's whereabouts? Will the city be able to recover from this strike? Will the prophecies give another surprise? Will mother and daughter become a new dynamic duo? Don't miss next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** Well, this one gave me some fight but finally I'm done. As you can see, this chapter is darker and more tragic than the previous ones, but the story is reaching its end so the moment of truth has finally come for the titans. The final battle is about to start so it's a matter of how fast I write to see who's going to be the winner. Tara has found her daughter again and it was just in time since the blond titan is about to face her most difficult test ever. Raven still thinks her nightmare was nothing but a premonition and that makes her feel uncomfortable… let's see what happens at the end.

As you might notice, this chapter was written in first person, I did it for varying things a little bit. I know I didn't choose all the characters just the ones I thought could tell the story in a better way… I hope you have liked it, although I won't repeat this format in the chapters upcoming. The end is quite near (2 chapters away actually) and next chapter is going to be full of action so don't miss next part.


	12. The True Power of the Elements Emerges

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 12**

"**Zarth Vs Terra. The True Power of the Elements Emerges"**

Two people left in a hurry one of the most important buildings in Jump city. Both men walked quickly and doubtful like they were trying to do something behind somebody's back... and indeed they were about to do something on their own; they were trying to do something very important and delicate that it was completely reckless to be done secretly giving the circumstances they were living in that moment. But Jack and Garlack were really hopeless, they knew Zarth had the worst opinion regarding them and the Order because their incapacity of dealing with Connor and the Titans.

First, they had allowed the group to burst in at their headquarters to take away Jessy and even worse the key was with them and they couldn't capture her. Afterwards, they hadn't been able to find their whereabouts... only failures had see Zarth from them and they were perfectly aware that if the legendary warrior took over the city destroying the titans, the key and the rebel wizards and witches the next target would be The Order of Darkness. That was the reason that led the two wizards to risk everything on a desperate maneuver. One more failure meant the extinction for them and the other members of the order, but if they had success then Zarth would have to accept them as allies in the very same conditions than the members of the Order of Chaos. Maybe Zarth could even make them rulers of the city instead of John and his group.

"Master, I understand the plan, but how are we going to find the key? We've tried several ways for a long time, but we have not been able to succeed on that. What's the difference now?" – inquired Garlack confused.

"There's a lot of differences now my dear friend; now that Zarth has begun the attack against the city, Connor and the Titans will have to come here in the open, they won't be able to hide anymore, they'll have to face us now... In fact, they must be here in the city now" – replied Jack impassive.

"They even left in the first place?" – asked the other.

"Of course! Otherwise we would have found them"

"But Connor is a very skilled wizard, maybe he could use a spell to hide the presence of the girl"

"That would have only worked against us, but not against Zarth. He's too powerful to be fooled by that kind of spells... no, only being away from here was the only way to remain unnoticed"

"I see... if now they're in the city it will be easy to find them"

"In fact, I think I know where they could be" – pointed Jack while opening a way for entering to the sewers. Then he indicated Garlack to follow him.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Zarth remained motionless in the roof of the building where the Order of Chaos had its headquarters; he was impassive looking at the city, sometimes his gaze just went lost at the horizon. It seemed that contemplating the destruction of the city was a common thing for him. From his location it could be seen the hundreds of explosions making shake the metropolis at each second and the movements of his hordes of assassins that merciless wiped out everything with the larger number of casualties possible. By his actions it could be said that Zarth really wanted to make the city disappear for good; the almighty warrior kept looking at the gloomy landscape when the leader of the Order of Chaos stepped close to him while making a deep bow.

"Jack and Garlack have disappeared... just as you foresaw"

"Fools, they really think there's a way I could spare their pathetic lives..."

"Do you wish them to be captured? I can send a group after them right away"

"Don't bother; they could become useful after all... I assume you know what they're trying to do"

"They want to find the key thinking we don't know where it is"

"Or thinking they'll get her before us"

"Do you believe they are allies of the group that helped Connor's bunch and the titans to escape from the port? After all, they are in the same Order"

"Don't make me laugh... those insects lost control of their own Order a long ago; it's ridiculous, they couldn't even keep control of their followers... and yet they still think I could consider them worthy to be generals of mine... By the way, those rebels who helped the key to escape are exterminated, I presume?"

"There's no one left alive"

"Excellent. Now it's just a matter of time" – said Zarth while John looked at him incredulous – "I already told you that the attack to the city was only a decoy to force those kids to leave their hideout. Now they are in the open just as we wanted and very soon they'll be before me"

"Precisely that's why I want to send all we've got to destroy them"

"You're very impatient, but I guess it's normal. After all you're young and a inexperienced warrior; but, when you have many battles on your shoulders you learn to be patient... the cat is successful on the hunting process because of its astuteness and not because of its strength"

"So, will you allow Jack and Garlack being the ones capturing the key?" – asked Jack a little bit unhappy.

"So you think they actually could capture the key and its friends... don't worry about that, they'll never succeed on that task"

"Then, what is the point of letting them face the others?"

"That's why the Dragon always defeats the Tiger. That fight will show me the current level of Terra. I want to know how much she has increased her power since the fight in the Order of Darkness' headquarters"

"But you're way more powerful than her, you don't really need to know that"

"Details my friend, details. You can lose a war because of the tiniest detail. No matter how small the enemy is you can never afford to underestimate it, only fools are know-it-alls. I don't like to leave loose ends and less before an important battle"

"I understand, so you mean that..."

"I mean we'll do as planned. Right now our goal is to take over Jump City to use it as our headquarters for the next target: _Gotham City_"

"And the key? And the titans?"

"Why do we have to bother looking for them when right now they are on their way here?"

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Eight people walked purposefully through the complex sewer system of Jump City; it was very easy to get lost in that complicated path of tunnels and corridors. Luckily, the boy wonder knew all the ways down there thanks to his days as a partner of Batman. While the group kept walking, the flame of hope grew inside each one of them due to recent events; at the end, the lies were falling and everything was starting to make sense. Besides, the team trust had also grown thanks to Tara's arrival that was like fresh air for them. Terra's mother didn't doubt telling the guys what had happened since Andrew's murderer 'til the reencounter at the port. The titans got astonished by hearing the details of Tara refusing being part of any order, or sect as she called them; how she took the hardest decision of her life by giving Terra away in a orphanage in order to protect her daughter; how she spent the next years living in a constant fear of being chase by members of the Order; how she convinced herself that after the killing of Andrew's murderers there was no one else who knew she was Andrew's wife or that he had had a daughter. How that belief made her feel safe enough to became a member of the Order of Darkness, even against her desire, in order to find out why the power of the elements was so important for them. How she had spent endless years doubting either if look for her daughter or not and how she convinced herself that Terra would be better remaining far from her. How Jack decided to make her prisoner, after setting plans for Zarth awakening, thinking Andrew had transferred his powers to her. How she was tortured almost to death because of that belief; how her worst fears became reality when Terra's sacrifice to stop the volcano revealed her presence to the members of the Order. How Jack understood that Andrew's powers were not in Tara but Terra and how she spent the rest of the time locked in a cell running desperate for being unable to help her daughter and feeling guilty for having left her alone, among other things.

The determination in the eyes of the heroes acted like a blaze of fire that illuminated the dark road where they were walking, their goal was clear, going to the Order of Chaos headquarters to stop once and for all the atrocities they were doing in the city by destroying Zarth who was behind them. The titans had fought a lot of enemies, many of them being creatures with horrifying appearances and others with eccentric behaviors; however, in that moment they understood that a true demon didn't need to look horrendous to make evil; and that behind a human disguise could hide the very Devil. The group walked towards the headquarters through narrow corridors and nauseating waters until they arrived to a very wide room that the wonder boy pointed as the end of the journey since the Order's Base were just above them. Everybody felt relief and fear at the same time realizing the end was near; the final battle was about to begin and the result was still a mystery; nevertheless, they didn't even take a step when to wizards appeared right before them.

Jack and Garlack had accomplished the first part of their plan: _to find the key first than anybody_ and now they were about to finish the task by killing Terra and the rest. However, seeing Tara among the group was a big surprise for them, especially for the Master who didn't believe what his eyes were watching. Jessy, on the other side, was starting to feel horror again seeing the wizards who had tortured her in the most cruel and despicable way. A shiver covered the body of the witched; but fortunately, silence was broke by one of the newcomers.

"What the heck are you doing here? How did you escape?" – asked Jack angry.

"Did you think nobody would figure it out your real plans? Or you thought everybody would follow you like sheep into this madness? Well, you were wrong, there's still sense in the Order… or in what is left of it at least… I hope you feel proud of destroying the organization" – replied Tara without turning a hair.

"Idiots, don't you know that against Zarth nothing works but submissiveness? The only thing the people has earned by deciding to fight him is a premature and painful death, but I don't feel bad for them; you have to purge mankind before creating a new era" – said Jack.

"You are insane Jack! You have lost your mind completely" – yelled Connor, rage in his eyes.

"The ones who have lost their minds are others and soon you'll realize when truth falls over you" – answered Garlack.

"We'll see that… I guess you are not going to let us pass in good terms so… Titans Go!" – sentenced Robin beginning the fight.

The newcomers quickly disappeared so Robin and the others put on guard waiting for their next move, which came almost immediately. A rain of energy attacks was thrown towards our heroes who used their combat skills to avoid it. Them Garlack appeared before them and using a giant sphere of light sent the whole group against one of the walls. Afterwards, Jack threw a powerful beam that wiped out the entire wall; however, Connor could save the group by teleporting them to other area of the room. Immediately Jessy threw a blaze of fire towards Garlack who quickly vanished, but when he appeared behind the librarian to punch her an electrical discharge hit him making him scream in pain. In no time Jack realized that Tara was responsible of that last attack and ran towards her, but his way was blocked by Raven and Starfire who threw several energy attacks towards the Master sending him some meters away. In that very moment, Garlack used all his strength to break Tara's spell to punch her after sending the witch against one of the walls remaining; the older of the Markov fell almost unconsciousness in the floor after the impact. Terra, after seeing the last move of Jack's apprentice, flew towards him, but Jack cut her way.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To kick your apprentice's ass, nobody mess with my mother"

"I think you have more important things to be worried about"

"Really? Like what?"

"Like this"

Almost immediately Jack vanished to appear behind Terra who didn't follow the move and was hit hard by one of the most powerful attacks of the Master that sent her, hurt badly, to the ground. Without wasting time, the leader of the Order of Darkness was ready to finish her, but a laser beam hit and sent him away.

"Boo-Yaa!" – yelled Cyborg – "Don't even think I'll let you hurt my friend"

The Master stood up to face the half robot, but a green bull charged at him until sending him against a wall; nevertheless Garlack hit the bull with an electrical discharge sending it away. In the moment, the titans and their allies regrouped and the warlocks did the same. The newcomers had realized it was not going to be easy to defeat the heroes, but that only increased their fighting will in order to prove themselves as worthy warriors for the new era.

"I can see you've been training... that's good, since it'll make our victory even greater" – said Jack sharply.

"Do you really think so?" – asked Robin while appearing in front of him to hit him hard with his metal staff.

"Azarath Mythrion Zynthos!" – yelled Raven who had prepared the maneuver along with Robin.

Garlack didn't have time to react and the dark energy hit him fully knocking him out; however, Jack was recovered and ready to wipe out the two titans when a blaze of fire sent him to the ground where he fell motionless. When Robin and Raven turned around to see who had thrown the attack, they could see Terra on her feet panting due to the effort made and the hit received before. Afterwards, the titans and their allies gathered, everybody looked tired due to the battle, but they felt satisfied for the duty done. Two of the most powerful warriors of Zarth had been defeated and their final target lay just meters away; however, those seconds of distraction were used by Jack who threw a rain of arrows towards Terra who was completely unaware; but Connor cast a charm to destroy the projectiles before they could reach their target.

"I never thought you could be so despicable to attack someone from behind, you're going to regret that" – pointed Connor with rage.

"Come and make me" – said Jack while Garlack stood aside him.

Connor telepathically informed Raven about a strategy he wanted to use in that moment and then he threw a giant energy sphere towards the warlocks who prepared to block it to send it back. Nevertheless, the crow girl used her telekinetic powers to make the ground, beneath the warlocks, shake and the roof above them fall in order to make them lose the required concentration and stability to block the sphere. Seconds later the heroes could see how the energy attach hit the warlocks and a big explosion took place in the room... when the smoke created disappeared the group realized nothing had left from their enemies. Once Connor and Raven saw the result of their strategy sighed relieved and looked each other dedicating mutually a knowing smile.

"That was a great teamwork" – said Connor happily.

"It will be even better with time" – added Raven.

"Mom!" – yelled Terra while running towards her mother who was already standing.

"Don't worry, I'm ok. It's required more than that to beat me" – said Tara smiling.

The group prepared quickly to continue their journey and Robin guided them towards and exit to the street. When everybody were outside they could see the building that served as Base for the Order of Chaos before them; they were just at the end of the road and the battle they had before was just a prelude for the next one, the big one. The would have to use all their strength in order to destroy Zarth for good and they knew they were about to start the most difficult battle of all… The group was still standing in front of the headquarters when a hologram of the almighty Zarth appeared before them.

"I congratulate you for coming this far; but all your efforts have been in vain. The city is already ours and you'll never defeat me, but if you still want to try then be my guests. I'll wait for you in the roof and I hope you have the guts and the strength to come for me"

"Fool, we are going to kick your butt, dude" – said Beast Boy after the hologram disappeared.

"Well. The time has come; the future of Jump City and the World is at risk and we are going to meet our fate up there. It's our duty to stop Zarth once and for all if we want to bring back peace in here" – sentenced Robin resolved while gazing at the roof of the building.

Everybody nodded firmly and soon they were running towards that place to fight Zarth, curiously there were no warlocks or assassins in their way up. It seemed Zarth had cleaned the way for them in order to avoid pointless delays. In no time the group was on the roof and they quickly noticed only two people were standing in it. One of them was Zarth himself and the other was well known for the wizards; it was John, the leader of the Order of Chaos. Now it made sense nobody tried to block their way after the fight against Jack and Garlack. Apparently, the leaders wanted to defeat the heroes by themselves avoiding to involve lower class warlocks. In that moment everybody got on guard and tense silence cover the place; looks went and came and several thoughts crosses the warriors' minds. After a lot of planning and fighting, everything was reduced to one single battle; the fate of many people would be decided in that place in that time. Again the prophecies were about to be fulfilled and the elements, represented by Terra, faced Zarth who didn't have the intentions of being defeated like the last time.

"So, you really had the courage for coming here to fight me" – mocked Zarth.

"You won't get away with this" – said Robin firmly.

"Don't make me laugh you little worm, you tested my powers once, but I think I wasn't rude enough that day; but don't worry, this time I'll make sure this place became your grave" – replied Zarth.

"You'll try" – said Tara coldly.

"It seems Jack's incompetence has reached ridiculous levels; first he allows you to burst in the Order of 'Madness' headquarters, then he allows you to take his prisoner away; afterwards I think he thought that wasn't foolish enough so he let another prisoner to escape; and, finally he lost his battle against you... definitely our alliance with that group has proven to be a mistake from the beginning, but I'm glad that mistake will soon be corrected by killing all the members of that Order. In fact, I think I'll begin killing you three" – said John while pointing Tara, Connor and Jessy at the end of his speech.

"You have a big mouth, but you have only talked so far while hiding behind the big one" – replied Connor pointing Zarth – "I don't see any bravery in that... maybe it's time for you to learn a couple of things"

"Shut up you filthy fly! I..." started John, but Zarth made him to get quiet with a gesture.

"So you are the chosen one to fight me this time" – said Zarth pointing Terra – "To be honest I was expecting someone more powerful or at least someone who inspired respect... I'd have liked to fight your father, he was a true and worthy warrior... or so I've been told at least. That way his destruction would have served a greater good... or evil" – pointed half smiling.

"I won't let you talking about my father!" – yelled Terra angry stepping forward while trying to hide the fear she was feeling.

"Rage is a good way to hide fear, but it's useless when your opponent can see through you" – pointed Zarth making Terra shiver – "But, don't worry, you'll soon be with your father and your mother will go with you as well" – sentenced.

"This little chat is getting boring" – said Raven removing her hood trying to avoid Zarth winning the psychological battle against Terra – "We have a city to save and you definitely are in our way" – ended pointing Zarth.

"You really want to die I see... so be it" – said Zarth casting a powerful spell against Raven.

Raven created a dark energy shield to block the spell, but the attack was more powerful and sent the titan badly to the ground. Immediately a rain of energy balls was thrown towards the heroes who were protected by a powerful barrier created by Connor and Tara. Then Robin, Starfire and Cyborg decided to counterattack; The boy wonder flung some light grenades that blinded the warlocks then Starfire took advantage of the boy's move to throw several star bolts against Zarth and John causing a big explosion. At the beginning, the titans thought they had caused great damage to the warlocks, but when the smoke disappeared they could see that the Tameranian attack had been block by a shield created by Zarth.

"Nice try, but I'm afraid it wasn't good enough"

A powerful laser beam emerged from Cyborg's arm cannon towards John who disappeared to evade the attack and immediately a rain of arrows was sent against the titans. Fortunately, Terra could protect them by using a fire shield; then the blond girl started walking towards Zarth until she was right in front of him.

"Well, it is time to end with this" – said the titan resolved – "You have caused a lot of damage to innocent people and it's time for you to receive the punishment you deserve"

"You're right... it's time to end with this, but I can assure you that the ending in my mind is a little different to the one you are expecting" – replied Zarth putting on guard.

Robin took advantage of the pause to change the strategy, now they will split in two groups to avoid John and Zarth helping each other. In no time, Connor, Raven, Beast Boy and the Boy Wonder himself joined Terra to fight Zarth while Tara, Jessy, Cyborg and Starfire decided to face John.

"It ends here and now... Titans Go!" – yelled Robin to restart the battle.

Starfire rose and flew at full speed to face the leader of the Order of Chaos who flung an energy attack towards her to disappear afterwards... The Tameranian evaded it, but lost sight of her target; then John appeared behind the group that was fighting him and used one of his most powerful spells against them; a big explosion shook the place sending Jessy and the other to one of the roof edges. Tara was the first to stand up and Jessy did the same afterwards and the two witches along with Starfire began the counterattack. The librarian created a tornado around John and a blaze for fire was thrown by the older of the Markov to finish the warlock; the leader of the Order tried to disappear but something prevented it. It appeared that the tornado was somehow blocking John's magic so he raised the level of his aura to break the spell. Nevertheless, it was too late since he received the fire attack fully falling to the ground afterwards.

"This can't be possible; that lower class witch has no level enough to prevent me using my magic..." – thought John upset while standing up.

Very close to them, a vicious battle took place; Terra rose and threw a fireball to Zarth who quickly evaded it to counterattack with an electrical discharge that sent the blond girl to the ground. Then, the warlock tried to finish the girl, but he had to rise quickly to evade two powerful attacks sent by Raven and Connor. The crow girl and Blackwood rose too and the three floated face to face, then they disappeared and the next heard was an energy crash when Zarth blocked an attack from Raven. Connor wanted to take advantage of that chance and flung a fire spell against the legendary warrior who sensed the move and created a shield to stop it; however, due to the fact the attack used one of the ancient elements, Zarth weakened a little. Besides, the legendary warrior didn't notice Terra was fully recovered and a second fire attack hit him fully in the chest sending him to the ground. Afterwards, Beast Boy who had transformed into a Dragon flung a blaze of fire towards Zarth who had strength enough to teleport himself away, although the four titans and Connor immediately appeared in front of him.

"I hope you are not thinking I'm defeated, this battle is just beginning" – pointed Zarth seeing his opponents surrounding him.

Not very far from there, the battle between Connor and the others continued; Tara flung a powerful electrical discharge towards the leader of the Order of Chaos, but he could evade it to throw a rain of arrows towards Jessy afterwards. Nevertheless, the librarian easily turned the arrows into dust by moving her right arm and sent a light attack that was blocked by John who immediately rose to evade the laser beam threw by Cyborg... Then, the warlock realized he had fallen into a trap since right after rising several green star bolts were surrounding him; the librarian didn't waste time and using all her strength created another tornado around John to block his magic. The leader of the Order of Chaos then used all his strength to break the spell but it didn't work so the warlock tried even harder but all his efforts were in vain; in that moment, John knew it was the end... the next thing happening was Starfire making all the bolts to hit the warlock and a huge explosion shaking the place; when the smoke disappeared, all the people present could see John's body falling heavy to the ground to lie motionless afterwards...

Zarth witnessed John's death and the legendary warrior could felt rage filling his body; those little kids had gone just too far and it was time to squash them like the cockroaches they were. The warrior shouted out loud and a strong blast generated by his aura sent the titans and their allies to the ground; afterwards, Zarth rose and created a huge energy sphere that sent towards his enemies; the attack wiped out the entire building; but fortunately, our heroes were saved by Raven who used her soul self to teleport them away. The group then flew towards the legendary warrior to face him

"No more considerations, no more chatting, time to die" – sentenced Zarth before disappearing.

The next movements took just a few seconds due to the great speed of the legendary warrior; he first appeared in front of Connor and knocking him out with a hook in the stomach; then he flew towards Jessy who tried to cast a tornado like she had done against John, but the spell was easily broke by Zarth who sent her unconscious with an energy attack. Afterwards was Cyborg's turn who received an electrical discharge that made him fall to the ground and remain motionless; then Tara felt the rage of the warrior and was knocked out by a light attack. In no time, all his opponents were beat until only one was left standing. In that moment, Zarth made a pause in his attack and walked towards the younger of the Markov to face her.

"Well, I just god rid of the trash, now it's just you and me" – said Zarth.

"I'm not afraid of you" – said Terra putting on guard.

"I'd say you're terrified instead, but don't worry you won't feel anything" – replied the other before charging her at full speed.

Terra sent a blaze of fire towards her opponent who evaded the attack to hit her hard in the stomach, making the younger of the Markov to cough blood while kneeling down.

"Defeated so soon?" – inquired Zarth.

"This is not over yet" – said Terra rising from the ground.

Zarth did the same and immediately disappeared to appeared behind Terra, but this time the girl was prepared and a powerful fire attack hit the legendary warrior; then, Terra made several stone columns to rise from the ground to hit Zarth again, but the warlock destroyed them with his aura to start the counterattack; the man flung a big energy sphere towards the blond girl who deflected it by controlling the air; although she didn't notice Zarth had appeared behind her and the warrior hit her hard in the head sending the titan to the ground along with his partners. Zarth observed the girl falling and decided to finish her once and for all; he had wasted enough time already in that combat and there were more important things to do. This time, the result of the battle would be different and the prophecies would be rewritten according to his will... after all, history is written by the winners.

Just beneath Zarth, the titans lay seriously wounded; blood flowed from their bodies and they could barely move; even the members of the Order of Darkness couldn't stand on their feet. Only one person had been able to stand up, a blond girl with blue eyes was the only Zarth's opponent with enough strength to keep fighting. But not even her had the power to match the legendary warrior.

"You don't even control your powers in a decent way, How could you even think that having that poor level you could defeat me?" – asked Zarth appearing behind the girl to kick her hard on her back making Terra fall heavily to the ground – "It's shameful that the chosen one to fight me this time is a second class warrior; you're just too weak to handle your own energy; I expected a real combat, but you're too pathetic to give me that" – sentenced Zarth before flinging a strong energy attack towards the blond girl who couldn't block it. After receiving the impact, the girl was thrown several meters away.

The blood flowed from Terra's mouth and the girl felt her strength fading away; but she couldn't give up, it was not the time to do that. What her father would say if he could see her in that situation? He and her mother had sacrificed a lot to give her the chance to live and now she was about to die because of her incompetence.

"You are an idiot and a immature girl, you should have stayed inside that statue to be destroyed by the Order, but I'm going to solve it"

Zarth flung a powerful attack against the blond girl who tried to stop it in vain; it was just to strong for her and Terra ended lying in the ground moribund. Afterwards, the legendary warrior rose above her and using all his power threw a huge energy sphere that caused a giant explosion when hit the younger of the Markov making a crater in the ground. In the bottom of it, Terra could be seen lying motionless without breathing. Zarth smiled pleased and landed near the other warriors who started to sand up without understanding what had happened.

"The prophecy has been fulfilled and the final battle has ended; you have witnessed the destruction of the key and now your turn has come" – sentenced Zarth thinking nobody could step on his way, or at least nobody capable of destroying him.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Terra suddenly woke up and everything around her was nothing but complete darkness; the blond girl couldn't see anything farther than one inch from her nose and that situation started to make her feel uncomfortable. The worst part came when she realized she couldn't move, it was like something or someone was restraining her; the younger of the Markov then began to shake her body trying to free from that grip but all her efforts were in vain. The girl didn't know what to do to free her; nevertheless, the true horror arrived when she noticed why she couldn't move. _Terra was inside the stone statue_. The blond girl then started to cry out loud trying to be heard by somebody, but it was useless; it was like she was isolated from anything and anybody… A few seconds later, the titan stop struggling and keep doing the only thing she could do… to cry. But then she heard a familiar voice…

"I see you still are in your resting place, as usual" – said Slade entering in the room where was located Terra's statue inside the cave.

"Eh? This can't be, my friends need my help; Zarth is going to kill them" – replied Terra in a hurry.

"Zarth? Friends? What are you talking about? You have never had friends; the titans just used you, nothing more. They always did; even at the end they made you think they really liked you to turn you against me… unfortunately, they succeeded on it and you can see what happened. They got the victory and you ended up locked inside that statue" – continued Slade.

"Liar! You were the one who used me, you turned me against my real friends; besides, they set me out of here and took me back on the team… what I still don't know is how I got here again" – said Terra, the final part in a whisper.

"Set you out? Do you think you're free to move right now? I don't think so. You have never been set out from that prison and none of your 'friends' has ever come here since that battle… do you call that a real friendship?" – concluded Slade with irony.

"You won't trick me again… I've got to get out of here… Zarth is going to kill them all if I don't stop him" – said Terra struggling again to escape.

"And again you said that name… I think your mind has been busy all this years… let's see, come on, tell me What have you been dreaming to keep you busy inside there?" – asked Slade.

"I haven't dreamed anything!!" – yelled Terra beginning to lose her temper.

"Where is that Zarth then? And where are your so called _friends_?"

"In the city, in the Order of Chaos' headquarters… or what is left of it anyway"

"Wow, such an imagination you have! Order of Chaos? What else have you invented?"

"Shut up!!"

"Make me… oh, I' sorry, I forgot you can't get out of there… I don't know what else have you been thinking, but you are deluding. The city is completely in peace waiting for me to take over it"

"You have been sent by Zarth, haven't you? Well, go tell him he won't get away with it"

"That name again?" – asked Slade before hiding behind a big rock.

Seconds later, a little shine allowed Terra to see some things in the room, then a beautiful kid entered in the room; the boy was green and his clothes remind the ones worn by the monks in ancient centuries, although he had taken off his hood… soon he noticed the statue and walked towards it, but then two more people entered in the room… Raven and Beast Boy were together and by their gestures it was obvious they were in love with each other, although they soon started feeling a little uncomfortable after seeing the statue.

"Hey Jean come back here immediately" – said Beast Boy.

"Hi dad, hi mom" – answered the little boy joining his parents.

"Let's get out of here, this place only has bad memories in it" – said Raven flinging her arms around the green titan without stop looking at the statue.

"You're right, we better talk to the others to get rid of it… it has too many years bothering here" – concluded Beast Boy while the three left the room, that got dark again.

"This is not happening, this can't be happening. Why Beast Boy didn't hear my screams? Why they are together? A child? What happened with Connor?" – asked Terra herself starting to doubt.

"Do you understand now what I'm telling? Forget those silly dreams about Zarth, Connor, Order of Chaos and other stuff. You have never been out from that statue since that battle" – sentenced Slade coming out from behind the rock.

"But, but I, what happened was real… it was real… IT WAS REAL!" – said Terra yelling at the end – "But it really was? It was just a dream? Did I really imagine all that?" – inquired the blond girl.

"Well, well, well, finally you're starting to comprehend your real situation" – said Slade pleased.

"What are you doing here? Why did you come?" – asked Terra with pain in her voice.

"You're asking the right questions at last; I've come to give you the chance your _friends_ didn't give you… I've come to set you out from that statue… I, unlike them, have been busy trying to find a way to set you free and finally I know the way" – said Slade joyful.

"Can you do that?" – asked Terra beginning to forget that tale about Orders, prophecies, wizards and witches.

"Yes, but on one condition"

"Which?"

"I want you to be my apprentice again… together we will destroy the titans once and for all"

The younger of the Markov was about to give up and quit everything to accept Slade's proposal, but something inside her pointed that something was wrong with all of it. She started to feel that the only way to escape from that prison was in her heart and not outside. Then a strong light wiped out the darkness of the room and Terra could see the surroundings again, but this time fully; however what astonished the girl was not the fact she could see again, but the person standing in front of here… just before Terra was the man who sacrificed his own life to protect terra, before her was Andrew, her father…

"Dad? Is that really you?" – asked Terra full of doubts.

"Yes my child, I'm here at your side" – replied Andrew.

"Then, everything was real?"

"Of course it was! And now your friends need you more than ever, don't abandon them in this moments of need"

"But I cannot get out of here; besides, and even if I manage to get out… that warrior is just too powerful for me… I don't think I can defeat him… I'm sorry for not being as strong as you" – said Terra sad.

"But you're more powerful than me. At your age I couldn't even control one element in a decent way; it took me several years of practice to reach the level I had; you're just a prodigy handling the elements"

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do, do you think I'd lie to you?"

"But yet it hasn't been enough to beat Zarth"

"You only need to trust yourself. Terra, you are capable to defeat that guy but you need to think it is possible only then you'll find the strength to destroy him" – ended Andrew while his body started disappearing.

"Dad, please don't go, don't leave alone in this dark place"

"I've never left you alone my child, search deep inside your heart and you'll find my energy, which will always be yours"

Soon Andrew disappeared and the room got dark again leaving Terra full of doubts and uncertainties. She didn't know what was real and what was not, but she didn't have time to think about it since Slade reappeared again.

"You have not answered yet. Are you going to be my apprentice again?"

"My final answer is no… I will never be your apprentice again; now I'm someone different and I have to help my friends" – said Terra remembering her father's words.

The blond girl closed her eyes and a yellow light started to shine around her; then, she yelled out loud and the statue was destroyed…

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Terra suddenly woke up and by looking around she realized she was at the bottom of a big crater and almost immediately reminded everything that happened in the battle and in her mind; nevertheless, she didn't have time to look for answers, the titan stood up with one goal in her mind and thinking of it she rose until she emerge from the hole in the ground. Then she could see Zarth being ready to kill her friends who were in the ground helpless.

"Your battle with me is not over yet" – said Terra very resolved while a strong yellow aura surrounded her. Definitely, she was not the girl Zarth had fought before, now there was not fear in her.

"That strength, that aura" – said Zarth realizing the huge power emerging from the girl.

"Who is afraid now?" – asked the younger of the Markov.

"I see you found the way to unleash your true power, but don't feel to confident yet. You're still a kiddo and you have a lot to learn" – said Zarth putting on guard.

"And I'm planning to learn all of that once I wipe you out" – replied Terra without turning a hair.

_What is going to happen now? Could Zarth defeat Terra again? The elements will emerge victorious this time? Will this be the final battle? Don't miss next chapter._

**Author's Notes:** Wow, finally I'm done with this chapter… It took me some time but I could do it. Sorry for the delay, I had some problems at home and at work and I didn't have much time to write.

Well, speaking of the chapter itself I must say I really enjoyed writing it, this is one of the chapters I've liked most writing and I think the final product is good. The final battle has begun and the full power of Zarth could be seen… Terra had to fight all her demons but I think this time she beat them for good, now she is ready for the final round. Her true power has been unleashed and now it's her turn to teach some lessons. Well, this fic is close to its end now, I'm afraid next chapter is going to be the last one and I really hope you still enjoy this story. Next chapter will show the result of the battle, but is that really the final battle? Before leaving let me tell you that your reviews are welcomed so I'm waiting for your comments. Don't miss next part.


	13. One end and one beginning

_**The Stone Chest**_

**Chapter 13**

"**One end and one beginning"**

Our heroes looked astonished at the scene; before them was that girl they had met by chance, the girl they had trusted and the girl that betrayed them being manipulated by Slade who turned her into his apprentice using her fears and insecurities against her. The girl that after realizing her mistakes didn't hesitate before sacrificing herself for the greater good; the girl that after knowing her true destiny didn't run away from it although she always feared not being good enough to fulfill it. But now something was different, her look didn't show any sign of fear, in fact it was severe, but calmed. Her aura now was strong, very strong, so strong it could match Zarth's easily. It was obvious that the power of the elements has finally emerged inside her and for the first time since his awakening, Zarth had a true opponent. Tara observed her daughter with both joy and fear because she could see her beloved Andrew in her, not only because of the energy she expelled but also for the determination reflected in her face. It seemed her father had taught them somehow the way to unleash her power and that made Tara happy; however, Zarth hadn't been defeated yet and thinking that Terra could die in the next strike made her mother feel distressed.

Both fighters were face to face floating in the air waiting the tiniest distraction of the other to begin the attack. Each one firmly looked at the other trying to read their expressions, movements and even their thoughts... in those moments anything was worthy if gave a clear advantage in the fight. Suddenly, Zarth flew at full speed towards the blond girl who quickly rose to be above her opponent and then she threw a powerful fire attack. However, the legendary warrior moved smoothly to evade it and seconds later a huge energy sphere flew towards the younger of the Markov who used her new speed to dodge it and appear in front of her enemy. Both rivals made a pause to resume the analysis they were doing before, but this time Terra broke the truce creating a huge tornado between them, which grabbed Zarth making impossible for him to move. Then, the blond girl rose to the top of the tornado and threw a giant fireball directly to the legendary warrior that hit him fully. Afterwards, the tornado vanished and Zarth fell heavily to the ground; the warlock tried to stand up, but the hit had been to strong and he couldn't help to cough blood before falling again... The younger of the Markov landed smoothly in front of him and without moving herself made the ground around the other move so the legendary warrior was literally swallowed by the road surface. However, a great explosion shook the place and Zarth emerged from the ground surrounded by a white energy aura from which some electrical discharges escaped.

"Very well, I see you've learned some new tricks" – said Zarth stopping in the middle air – "I hope you haven't run out of them yet because you will have to fight much more better than this if you really want to beat me" – concluded.

"There are plenty more tricks from where those ones came out, question is; are you going to last long enough to see them all?" – replied Terra impassive.

"It doesn't matter if you are stronger now, the world does not revolve around you yet so despite those 'clever' comments, from where I see you still are a little insect, and by saying that I'm insulting the insect. You are a last class hero, but it's obvious you need a reminder urgently; do you think you are good? Let's prove that then" – said Zarth with an ironic smile while flying towards Terra's partners.

Zarth threw a powerful energy attack against them who were too weak to stop it. Terra immediately tried to fly towards them, but Zarth quickly cut her way there.

"Where do you think you're going? Your fight is here, against me"

Terra felt the desperation grow inside her while seeing the energy ball getting closer to her friends; she was running out of time extremely fast if she wanted to help them. However, something inside showed her the solution, it was like her own energy was speaking to her. The eyes of the blond girl started to glow and soon the road surface beneath her friends broke itself creating some kind of floating platform that took the entire group to a safe place. Seconds later, the attack hit the ground generating a huge explosion that shook the place and destroyed some buildings nearby.

"Well, well so you can think fast" – said Zarth half-smiling.

"You're going to pay for this" – answered Terra.

"Well, chat time is over; I'm going to wipe you our once and for all. The 'how to be a hero' curse is over" – sentenced Zarth before disappearing.

Terra looked in every direction but there was no sign of her opponent. The titan kept floating, but she decided to move for both looking for Zarth and avoiding a surprise attack.

"Are you going to do this all day? Is this your best strategy? Hiding yourself?" – asked the blond girl with sarcasm.

"Did you miss me?" – inquired Zarth and then he appeared behind Terra and kicked her bad in the back sending the girl to the ground.

Terra used her powers to stop herself in the middle air before hitting the road surface and immediately turned around but Zarth was not at sight anymore. Then the girl closed her eyes and started to focus her energy; seconds later the legendary warrior appeared again behind her to repeat his previous move.

"If you stay motionless this is even ea…" – tried to say Zarth.

The warlock couldn't finish the sentence because a huge fireball had emerged from Terra's hand. The girl had guessed his move and had turned around extremely fast to face him. The attack fully hit the legendary warrior and Zarth could feel and see how the flames burned his body. The blond girl didn't waste time and prepared her final attack; seconds later, a giant sphere combining water, fire, wind and earth elements emerged from her hands towards the legendary warrior who couldn't do anything to stop it and was helpless wiped out by it… After realizing Zarth had been destroyed Terra breathed deeply and for the first time, since this story began, she could feel in peace knowing her mission had been accomplished and that she hadn't dishonored her father memory.

"I hope you are proud of me wherever you are" – said Terra looking at the sky.

Afterwards, the blond girl flew at full speed to reach her friends and fortunately she could see they were ok, wounded, but ok. Then, the younger of the Markov looked for her mother and soon both women bear hugged each other while crying happily.

"You have become a great warrior my child. I'm sure your father would be proud of you" – said Tara.

"You're amazing Terra, you really kicked that guy's butt" – commented Beast Boy.

"Boo-ya!!! Finally someone taught a lesson to him and man he really needed it" – sentenced Cyborg.

"It's been a honor to fight at your side" – said Connor shaking hands with her.

"It's good you are on our team" – said Robin smiling.

"You were superb friend Terra" – said Starfire.

"That was extraordinary; fortunately I could witness it live. Being told after wouldn't be the same" – added Jessy.

Terra was very happy after hearing her friends' words of approval, but soon her glance cross with Raven's who hadn't say anything so far… Everybody then went silence while the crow girl walked quietly towards the blond girl and the tension grew even more when both girls stood face to face. Then the titan wearing the white robes surprised her friends by big hugging Terra.

"You indeed are a true hero and an even better Titan" – said Raven sincerely.

Our heroes were joyful, finally the battle had ended, but soon they realized something was wrong… they had assumed that after destroying Zarth, all the assassins created by him would disappear and only the warlocks loyal to hum would remain to fight. And it was logical to think that after realizing their Masters had been defeated they wouldn't fight anymore but run away and hide instead. However, the legendary warrior had gone but his creations were still around the city destroying everything at sight. It was in that moment when a huge earthquake shook the entire place. Many of the buildings standing started to fall and the street below the group crumbled pointing something even worse was about to happen. Afterwards some kind of vortex appeared and it was clear that the earthquake had been caused by it and the worse thing was that the anomaly didn't stop growing.

The earthquake kept shaking the field where our heroes had been fighting Zarth; strong electrical discharges could be seen generated by the strange portal that had appeared in the place where Zarth was before being wiped out. None of them knew what to do. Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Jessy and Cyborg didn't understand what was happening; only Raven had a reasonable explanation for it, but that only made her feel desperate thinking about the consequences of that apparition, consequences for the city for her friends, but above all for herself. And that feeling got even worse when she noticed Terra and Connor faces both of them looked very resolved after taking a decision about something.

"This must be ended right here and right now, the sacrifice must be done" – said Terra gravely.

"I see the memories came to you too" – replied Connor sighing downhearted.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" – asked Tara fearing the worst.

"Mom, Gar… I… I don't know how to say this, but…" – started saying Terra while Beast Boy started to worry too – "The destruction of Zarth has opened a portal to another dimension and if we don't close it right away a powerful demon will enter in our world. We can't allow that… only a blood sacrifice can seal the portal… the blood of the executioner must be offered…" – ended Terra with tears in her eyes.

"My child!! It must be a mistake, you cannot leave me now, not again; it's been a lifetime I've spent without you; you have carried enough load over your shoulders" – said Tara shaking her head incredulous.

"I'm sorry mom, I'd wish there was other way…" – tried to say Terra although she couldn't finish the sentence.

"Terra, don't!!! You can't sacrifice yourself… Not again… It's just not fair!!!… Remember what I told you back in the cave. While we are alive we can find a way. Don't do this to me again, please. It has to be another way!!!" – yelled the green leaving the other warriors astonished.

"There is another way"

In that moment, Connor started walking towards the time-space anomaly and seeing him doing that shocked Terra. The wizard moved so quickly that the others couldn't react on time to stop him. Then, just before going through the portal, Blackwood whirled around and said his last words…

"You have sacrificed yourself a lot already; life hasn't been nice with you and you deserve to have a future. Be wise and I hope everything turns fine from now on" – started the wizard looking at the girl, then he closed his eyes and opened them again to look at Raven – "The blood of the executioner must be offered and that blood flows through Terra's vein but also through mine. I'm sorry for leaving you like this; I really wanted to live a future… a future at your side. Please don't forget me and live… please live, I'm doing this for you… feel me when you breathe because I'll always be close to you. I love you Raven and I'm happy because I could feel love before going away" – concluded the wizard; then he cut his arms with a spell and started to run to enter through the portal while his blood covered his hands.

None of our heroes could believe what was happening. First happiness filled the place because the final battle had ended. Then they started feeling desperate listening Terra and Connor speaking about another sacrifice to save them all and now they were horrified watching Connor running towards the portal to give his own life to it… Everything had happened too quickly and none of them could react on time, they only watched Connor's race towards her doom… Robin and the others soon witnessed how Connor was swallowed by the vortex and immediately a blinding light emerged from it; a light that covered the entire city wiping out all Zarth's creatures. When the light extinguished, the leader of the titans and the rest ran towards the place where the portal was before, but nothing was there… there were no traces of the portal or the wizard who had given his life to close it. It was like the anomaly had never appeared in the first place… Jessy was the first one reacting and several tears covered her face, the witch knew she would never see her friend, that person who always supported her and protected her like an older brother. It was simple amazing how easy you could lose someone you care about, but almost immediately a strong noise out the others on alert and then two figures appeared next to them.

"This can't be possible!" – said Jessy running to hug her friend – "I thought I'd never see you again"

"Actually I have no idea of what happened. I should be dead now" – said Connor hugging her back.

"I thought the same, once the sacrifice is done, the portal closes trapping the executioner" – added Terra.

"That is not 100% accurate" – said Raven who was standing next to Connor – "Some time ago I had a nightmare regarding this moment and that made me do a huge research about the portal and how to close it. Eventually I discovered that once Zarth was destroyed, the energy unleashed would open a vortex, a door to another dimension that could be use by every demon existing to come here. Apparently, that portal could only be close sacrificing Zarth's executioner; however I was not satisfied with that since it implied losing people we care about so I decided going deeply in my investigation and I found another way. A love sacrifice could close the portal saving the executioner's life; but it must be done secretly and just before the executioner entered into the vortex" – concluded the crow girl astonishing everybody.

Connor looked at the girl he loved and he felt how his heart beat faster and faster while hearing her words. Raven had been able to spent hours maybe days looking for a way to save him even before confirming her nightmare was indeed a premonition and she didn't hesitate giving her life to save his in a love sacrifice, a love sacrifice, that meant she really loved him. The wizard couldn't help it and he showed her sensitive side crying before big hugging and kissing her. He kissed her like they wouldn't have seen each other in years knowing that the bond between them had become stronger. Raven was caught by surprise but she didn't hesitate to kiss him back, she didn't care about the others watching the scene with an army of water drops on their heads. Not to mention Beast Boy and Cyborg had fallen to the ground because of the kiss and Starfire was bombarding the boy wonder with several questions regarding the scene causing Batman's former apprentice to get really nervous… After all, their love story, which started some time ago in a French café, was going to have a happy ending… _C'est la vie_...

PPPPPPPPPPPP

One year has passed since the battle against Zarth and Jump City started to look like it was before that incident. All the rubble had been removed; the buildings standing that had some danger to fall were demolished to avoid risks. Nevertheless, rebuilding process was going fast and smoothly and downtown looked almost like before, although more time was going to be required before the city reaches its past magnificence. And even more time would be necessary for the citizens of Jump City to forget what Zarth had done; in fact, some people said that battle would never be forgotten… Close to the city in the island of the titans, the T tower stood imposing again. Robin and the others didn't hesitate to built it again once the danger had passed because that represented a clear sign of good overcoming evil and the tower would show to the citizens that the titans would never abandon them, not even in the hardest times... Regarding the other groups involved, The Order of Chaos almost disappeared after Zarth's destruction because many of its followers ran away to avoid being captured by the titans or the Order of Darkness; however, Connor's parents took advantage of that situation to take over the organization. Both of them were very careful not to be seen in the first line along with Zarth so now they claimed they were neutrals during the whole conflict. With John dead and Zarth destroyed nothing was in their way to take control of the order... or what was left of it. But the Blackwoods had the mission of giving back the magnificence lost to the organization.

On the other hand, the Order of Darkness also suffered a lot of changes; after Joseph's death and the destruction of Jack and Garlack the organization had no leader and many of its members feared that a conflict could start because of it. However, those fears stopped when Dominic appeared. Connor's friend had survived a vicious battle against Zarth's followers and assassins and everybody agreed he was the most qualified member to be the new leader. Some days later Jessy, Connor, Tara and the rest of the members attended the ceremony where Dominic was sworn in; and the leader's first decision was swearing in Connor as Master, which surprised many of the members since he would become the youngest Master in decades inside the organization. But yet, they accepted it; after all, the kid had also risked his life fighting against Zarth not to mention Connor's powers were great and having a Blackwood in a high position was never a bad thing. Other detail to be mentioned was that for the first time, people outside the Order witnessed one of the internal meetings. The Teen Titans were the special guests of the ceremony; Robin's group was very pleased since they thought Dominic and Connor deserved their new positions... definitely, everything was changing everywhere.

During the time the T tower was being rebuilt, the titans had been honor guests in Connor's manor; in fact, the place was used as the new titan's headquarters. Although Terra also spent a lot of time in her mother's house, after all they had to make up for lost time. Beast Boy didn't hesitate to go with her and Tara always received them joyful.

Robin and Starfire were getting used to their relationship and every day passed made them feel more comfortable with it; although the Tameranian didn't lose her touch and many times she made him sweat with her comments and questions, most of them regarding marriage... Terra and Beast Boy were very closed and it was clear their relationship got stronger with time; spending time with Tara helped them to be apart from the group and to live other experiences. The blond girl was learning to have a real family and she couldn't thank enough for having her mother back. After many years running from one place to another feeling lonely, insignificant and abandoned now she could share glorious moments with her friends, her boyfriend and her mother; finally she belonged to a place, to a group, to a family. The only sad thing in her life was her father's absence, she would have wish to be with him and her mother, but nothing was perfect; nevertheless, she actually ha more than she ever wanted and that was fair enough for her. Garfield was also very happy with his new life, finally his social life grew and visiting Tara was always special since she treated him as a son. Finally, after a long time, Beast Boy felt he was more than only a titan was. Now he felt he also had worth as a person and that made him happy.

Cyborg enjoyed having long conversations with Jessy and gradually a great friendship started there; the titan got interested in reading novels and technical books about magic and history while the witch became addict to videogames; after all, somebody had to replace Beast Boy when he went visiting Tara. Besides Jessy proved she could save the game every five minutes to avoid awkward situations. The witch felt more confident with her powers but she refused to quit as librarian; she said being in that position had been a key factor for obtaining the original prophecies, which had been extremely useful to defeat Zarth. After hearing her statement Dominic decided to give her the special member rank so now she could freely have access to the restricted areas and documents... you never knew how much could a librarian knows.

Connor and Raven had a very strong relationship and they were even thinking of getting married in time, which made Robin live awkward situations with Starfire; because the recent interest the Tameranian had in marriage was caused by her conversations with Raven. When the tower was finished, the titan hesitated in staying with Connor or moving with the team. But Blackwood was designated honorary titan and he decided to move with her to the tower. The wizard always thought his manor was too big for him not to mention the assassins had destroyed his apartment in the city. Besides, Jessy often visited the tower for playing videogames with Cyborg so he also could keep in touch with her outside the Order's headquarters. The titans never imagined that Raven could show her emotions openly and seeing her deeply in love with Connor didn't stop surprising them. Although that didn't mean she changed her manners, especially against Beast Boy, but it was obvious that the wizard had moved many things inside her and, good or not, she'd never be the same as before...

Definitely, those terrible events that happened a year ago had changed the future of all the people involved to a degree they didn't knew for sure. It was a matter of time before realizing if those changes had been good or bad; however, the most important thing was they were together and stronger than ever. The future before them now had a lot of possibilities to be explored and they deserved it; they put everything at risk, even their own lives to protect the city and the world. Even for the citizens the future now gave them hope, they had acted like true heroes, instead of hiding they fought against Zarth's followers to help the titans to make them see their sacrifice was worthy... Summarizing, despite the damages or maybe thanks to them, Zarth's arrival set the end of one era and the beginning of a new one for every people in the city. Only time could tell if new enemies would come to prove again the strength of them or if finally they had reached the true peace.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Terra and Beast Boy were leaving Tara's apartment in the outskirts of Jump City after enjoying a great lunch meal; now they were about to start their way back to the tower. The younger of the Markov rose and Beast Boy transformed into an eagle to follow her.

"Darling, remember you must go to the high school tomorrow for your registration, don't forget it" – said Tara seeing the couple rising in the air.

"I know mom, I'm going there tomorrow I promise" – said Terra bothered.

"Don't do the bother thing on me, you know you forget everything; in fact I'll call you tomorrow to remind it to you" – replied Tara – "And you Garfield, you better make sure my daughter can register tomorrow, otherwise you won't be welcome here anymore" – concluded the witched faking a threat.

"Don't worry ma'am, I'll be watching her" – answered Beast Boy with several water drops on his head.

"Mom, please, leave him alone" – said Terra.

"He must earn being my son-in-law" – sentenced Tara half-smiling.

The couple got away and Tara kept looking at them with nostalgia; the witch was very proud of her daughter because she could overcome her weaknesses and fears to move forward and avoid wasting the second chance she had received. Besides after Andrew's death her family was finally together and despite he was not with them, his spirit ever left them alone. That made Tara feel very happy and although Terra refused to move with her, her mother understood her reasons for staying in the tower. She was a titan after all and she would never quit from that job. In addition to that, the older of the Markov soon realized how much Beast Boy loved Terra, which made her rest better since she was sure he would always take care of her... and for a mother, that meant a lot.

In the road to the tower, Beast Boy decided to take a detour towards the place where he always went at the end of each day before Zarth's awakening; only this time the situation was quite different. Terra noticed his move and decided to follow him no questions asked to see what he wanted to show her. Seconds later both arrived to a place well known by them, before the couple a cave was standing. The same cave where she had fought Slade and the same cave where she had sacrificed her life to save the city. The green boy kept quiet and entered the cave without hesitating and the blond girl followed him a little bit scared by the memories of that place including the scene she lived during her battle against Zarth. Finally, the guy arrived where he wanted to go and turned around to show it to Terra.

"Here is where I came everyday to speak with you and to give you some company" said Beast Boy looking the room – "You... or the statue of you where in that corner" – concluded the titan.

"This place is very lugubrious I don't understand how you kept coming here day after day" – pointed Terra.

"There's no place that can be gloomy if you are in it and I kept coming to see you, I know maybe I was not helpful, but that way I thought you wouldn't be alone" – replied Garfield.

"Thanks, thanks for everything you have done for me; I don't know if I'm going to deserve it some day, but I assure that means a lot for me" – said Terra.

"You already deserve it, you have done a lot for us and others too and you always proved your feelings were noble... and nothing else matters" – sentenced Beast Boy – "Many times I thought you were conscious inside that prison and that made me go nuts because I imagined you suffering hell without being able to help you" – concluded starting to cry.

"You don't have to cry anymore for it, everything lies in the past now and I swear I was never conscious inside it" – clarified Terra remembering her dream during the final battle – "what is important now is that we are together and this time I won't ruin it" – concluded the blond girl hugging her boyfriend.

"I love you Terra, I'll always love you" – said Beast Boy kissing her softly.

"I love you too" – replied the girl when the kissed ended.

They both dedicated a sweat smile to each other and decided to resume her journey towards the tower, but this time when they left the cave the couple realized they were also leaving a past full of pain to go towards a better future...

PPPPPPPPPPPP

In the shore of the lake that was close to Connor's manor the wizard was along with Raven meditating as they did everyday. Both wizard and witch always took a few hours during the day for going to that place that had captivated the crow girl and that had become some kind of ritual for them... Far from there in another realm, the titan was having a conversation with a woman who looked exactly like her but with robes that reflected every color.

"See? I told you everything was going to be ok after my arrival" – said Love.

"Great, now you come with the 'I told you' thing" – replied Raven faking annoyance.

"Well look at you, you're happy, you have the guy you love with you and gradually those old wounds are healing" – continued Love.

"I only want this to be... permanent... I... really feel great now and I don't think I would stand losing everything" – said Raven worried – "You know better than anyone else this hasn't been easy for me, but I can't deny I like what I'm living now" – concluded the titan.

"I know you have made a great effort and it has been worthy so far so don't be silly and stop feeling fear; I've come to stay and I won't let you lose what you deserve" – said Love resolved – "Trust me, ok?"

"I already do it, well I got to go now, see you later" – said Raven who wanted to tease Connor before he finished his meditation.

The crow girl came back to reality and could see the wizard throwing stones to the lake trying to make them bounce as much as possible. The titan felt disappointed seeing he already had finished his meditation but then she thought she could still caught him by surprise so he walked towards him very carefully but she forgot one of the wizard's skills.

"Don't even think I'll be fool enough to let you throw me to the water" – said Connor without turning around.

"It's not funny if you read my mind, you know?" – said Raven to tease him.

"Fun or joy can't be suppressed if you are around" – replied Connor whirling to gaze the girl in front of him closely.

"Did you forget by any chance how I look?" – inquired Raven blushing.

"No, but I just love to see your beauty"

"Oh, you're going to make me cry" – mocked the titan.

"Sometimes it's amazing how easy you can cut my inspiration" – said Connor faking defeat.

"Oh please cut it off, I forgot my handkerchief at the tower"

"Do you think you're funny, right? Let's see what you can do about this"

Connor disappeared and suddenly Raven felt a strong grip around her and next she was floating in the middle air; afterwards the wizard appeared hugging her before giving the titan a soft kiss in her lips, kiss that was followed by another one this time more passionate. The crow girl didn't have time to think and when she realized what was happening she was already kissing him back. First, Raven wanted to keep teasing him by pushing the wizard away, but them she realized that was very difficult for her, cutting a Connor's kiss was simply not nice, so she decided to enjoy the moment and the magic of love filling her veins. The feelings they shared got stronger and stronger and she was very happy because the bond between them was becoming almost unbreakable, which made her feel secure… after all, she wanted to spend the rest of her life at his side…

"What were you saying about a handkerchief?" – asked Connor when the kiss ended.

"I don't remember and to be honest, I don't care" – replied Raven.

"I love you and I want you to be sure of it, You're the most important thing in my life and I want to be with you forever" – added Connor.

"I trust you more than ever and more than anyone. I know this is going to be fine… I know I can be very fatalistic sometimes but if I'm positive of something is of this" – sentenced the crow girl.

The two lovers kissed again and then flew towards the tower to meet the others; many things had passed in their lives but finally they could have hopes about a future full of happiness, but above all, a future together…

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Inside the tower, the titans along with Connor and Jessy spend an entertaining afternoon with great dishes, good music, excellent movies and of course the new Silent Hill videogame, which like its prequels had the classic hospital scenario. Blackwood was cooking along with Jessy like they used to do since they did it in Connor's manor during the battle against Zarth. Although this time Raven and Terra were helping them to finish quickly. Cyborg, Beast Boy and Jessy, who escaped from the kitchen to the living room any time she could, were fighting hard the killing nurses but this time thanks to the witch skills they were about to complete the level. Robin was along with Starfire watching the news waiting for something to happen. During the year next to the battle against the legendary warrior no crimes had been committed in the city. It was like all the villains had left the place due to the conflict… and it was comprehensible, giving how destroyed the city ended after the battle, perhaps the bad guys stop finding the place attractive for crime.

"Dinner is ready" – called Connor making the group to run for their lives to reach the table first. They were really hungry.

But when they started to eat the Tower's alarm began buzzing revealing the presence of a dangerous villain in the city… apparently the bad guys have realized Jump City had been rebuilt.

"It is a fact, the bad guys always appear in the worst moment, what a timing, man" – said Cyborg bothered.

"Don't go anywhere my dear tofu I'll be back in no time" – said Beast Boy.

"Finally a bad guy! This is exciting!" – yelled Starfire astonishing the others – "What? I thought we were all expecting this to happen" – ended the Tameranian ashamed.

"Well guys, it's time to kick some butts… finally" – said Robin hiding a smile… he was starting to miss that buzzing – "Titans Go!!"

_The End_

**Author's Notes:** Well finally I could finish this story. The truth is it took me more time than I planned from the beginning but I think it was worthy since I'm very proud of the final product. As you could see by reading this fic, this is the way I wanted the show to continue after season four (season five was… sad to say something polite)

I really hope you have enjoyed this ride as much as I enjoyed writing it and thanks again to spend part of your time reading these lines.

I tried to keep the original humor and feeling we loved from the show, but I also wanted to add new stuff like more romance (and more developed) and a darker plot. I feel happy because I could keep Connor alive until the end and man I was really tempted to kill him in a dramatic way. He and Jessy are special characters for me and I enjoyed creating, imagining and writing them both.

As you may noticed Terra was always the main character of the fic and the whole plot was developed around her. Why? Because she is the character I like most from the show and I really love she being Beast Boy's girlfriend. That's way I hated what happened to her in Aftershock 2 (not to mention Things Change… hate became rage seeing that chapter) so I decided to take my revenge by creating a story with Terra as a main character.

I don't want to say goodbye before thanking all the people that has been with me during this journey; I won't give names because I'm sure I'd forget some of them and that would be unfair, but you know who you are. I'll always be thankful for your help and support I haven't quit writing because of you.

Special thanks to my mother and my wife, I adore you both and I want to spend more years with you two. This fic is also for you.

Finally I want to thank again all the readers of this story and the other fics I have written; an author have no real value if nobody reads him and only you can't prevent our work to be forgotten. Thanks for keeping my stories alive and thanks for bothering to read them. I write first for me and then for you, I know sometimes I just have long delays, but it's not on purpose I swear. I hope this ending makes your wait worthy.

Is there going to be a sequel? My first intention was closing this story here but then I receive some reviews asking for a sequel of the Spanish version and I think I've found a good idea for making a second part so it's probably you read another season very soon. But you must keep in mind I don't have much time for the writing process so be patient. Besides I want to know if you really want a sequel.

If I don't receive reviews I'll assume you didn't like the fic or you don't want a second part so I'll focus only in the Spanish version for the sequel. If I receive reviews asking for the second season I'll make an effort to write it also in English. You can count on that.

Well, see you later, it is very hard for me to close this story since it took me more or less a couple of years to write it and I can't help feeling a little sad now. Thanks again to everybody and see you in next issue.


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